The LARGEST ROUNDABOUT on the M4 Motorway & A470 - What Was There Before?
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- Опубліковано 7 лют 2025
- #infrastructure #driving #wales
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In this video, we take a look at the largest, I think, roundabout in the country which sits on the M4 motorway. Not only that, we'll explore the left overs and abandoned road infrastructure that pre dates this massive roundabout and motorway junction.
Ive just spent 2 minutes watch someone go round a roundabout. Do I regret it? No.
There was an old video, back in the late 80s or early 90s that was someone doing a lap of the M25. I think it was called Orbital. Roughly the same time as the M25 raves and those "chill out" videos you could get with fractals and computer generated images. When I say video, I mean physical VHS tape. It was required viewing at 3am. Still got my old Xmix videos somewhere.
Great traffic light timing as well
Thanks to this comment, and my subsequent search on UA-cam to see if this video had been digitised, or someone else doing something similar, and found that our man John, had done a 1k miles on one tank around the m25 video. Ironically around 25 mins long 😁@@orbtastic
@@orbtastic Well, I quite like Orbital (the group) and consider In Sides one of my all time favourite albums. Today I learned that they're named after the M25 and nothing to do with space! 😂
Ah, but did you hit the special.button to say you liked it? It's there for that specific purpose 😂
I bet the guy behind you was thinking "I'll follow the guy in the Saab, he looks like he knows where he's going"
Look at all those green lights on your lap!
The force is strong in this one!
I used to listen to local radio before it became part of Heart and lost its soul.
It was always funny to hear the morning traffic report "there are traffic light failures on Castle Hill roundabout and as a result there are none of the usual delays in any direction".
@@georgeprout42 I remember the same with my local High Street! Traffic never flowed freer than when the lights broke!
Only 6 lights
The Gran Turismo music was the perfect accompaniment to the end there 😂
i thought more like you hit no1 on the leaderboard on Sega OutRun
I thought it was Out Run, not the magical sound shower track.
I thought it was a Greenslade track I'd not heard before..
I was thinking more Outrun, or Ridge Racer.
I don’t know whether it makes me sad or just really boring when my dinner entertainment is just watching a guy drive round a roundabout.
All of these, but that's okay. To some people, this is very interesting. Learning something new is key.
'Good luck with that!' Is SO British. True scorn delivered as a blessing. 😅
Not quite as literally a blessing as the American South's "bless your heart".
@@jonc4403 It's up there though 😄
I am utterly addicted to your content, your sense humour and your continuing wit!
Nobody else could do what you do and deliver this content in such a downright bloody brilliant way!
Keep it up mate, you make the world a better place.
Thank you.
As a kid lived near Pontypridd alongside the Glamorganshire canal, which became the route of the proposed new A470. For a year in around 1973 the A470 was almost finished but remained unopened. It was the best cycle track in the world for a 14 year old.
Having visited for work, the Traffic Wales control centre in the middle of roundabout, it's worth noting that it has it's own set of traffic lights, stopping the traffic on the roundabout to allow you to get on - nice!
It's ok in a roundabout sort of way................ I'll get my coat!
You will need it. It's summer in the UK.
....or is that a jacket!?!
There is at least one other “over and under” roundabout (a real one too) in the UK on the A45 Coventry Road where it crosses the M42 at the Bickenhill Interchange
Another wicked sweet video John. So, of course, I hit the button specifically for that! Take care & stay safe.
Amazing video. I’m from Cardiff and I didn’t even know about the old junction and I’ve been through/around that roundabout countless times over the years!
I’m just up the valleys, and I also never Knew about the old layout
I love the "because reasons" - succinct :)
The A 470 goes all the way to Llandudno a lovely part of wales greetings from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧
The music sounds like a 70's adult entertainment film, so I'm told.
So you’re told.
Bum-chikka-wow-wow....erm, I've been told.
Those VHS 20th hand videos were so stretched and grainy. So I'm told.
@@MrAlwaysBlue And a few specific segments were much grainier than others. So I'm told.
@@alexhajnal107 😂
The addition of the short link from the Westbound off slip onto the A470 has transformed the junction.
Still ridiculously busy at peak times, but better. Now they just need to sort out the A470 to stop that bottlenecking at the Caerphilly and Nantgarw interchanges, which will improve the M4 again!
And again at Abercynon. That roundabout is begging for a flyover or underpass as most of the traffic is continuing up towards Merthyr. Spending all the money on the A465, which will just make it worse.
To coin a phrase;- Good luck with that!
@@marksmith2276 to be fair the bottleneck at Abercynon is usually because someone's flipped their car outside Trade Centre Wales.
Agreed, the two-minute bonus item at the end of this video is brilliant! 🙂
Average speed of 30mph is pretty good for a roundabout!
One junction south on the A470 North Road is the lovely Gabalfa Interchange with the A48 Eastern/Western Avenue. An underpass, a flyover and a roundabout. A three layer cake of motoring madness, not forgetting the A469 and the entrance to University Hospital of Wales, which it looks like the planners nearly did.
Do have a look if you're passing. You'd be mad not to.
My first driving lesson took me around the Gabalfa Interchange - I was terrified.
Not to mention the footpaths that go over the underpass but under the roundabout and the exits off the sliproads that aren't at the end of the sliproads.
My wife takes a massive detour through Whitchurch,Llandaff North and Llandaff to avoid Gabalfa lol
I use it very regularly, and like to refer to it as "the Gabalfabout". You're right that it is a very interesting junction, but the roundabout is a right pain to get into from at least 4 of the 5 points of entry.
A469 that connects with the A468 in Caerphilly. Thats the worse traffic going. Same up Merthyr
You got VERY lucky with the lights and traffic there. If you wanted to turn from the A470 southbound onto the M4 westbound at rush hour, you'll probably be stuck on that roundabout for a good 10-15 minutes.
As a Newport boy, living in Cardiff and having been a regular M4 commuter over the years, I learned something new!
Negotiated this roundabout last week. Only got in the wrong lane twice!
This roundabout used to be on my commute to/from the office (which was up the A470). The one bonus was the McDonalds half way round, which would be a regular stop for breakfast on the way to the office :)
The road you joined from in the end circuit was the original A470 going through Tongwynlais. I can remember driving through there as it was then and all the various evolutions of that interchange since.
They've killed that road through Tongwynlais now, it's a nightmare...bumps, chicanes, narrowings. Awful! And I only go in there to a friend's mother's house.
That was bloody good, yes.
Very informative and well-made film. No one could fully understand the complete Coryton gyratory interchange before unless they had worked on it, now it is explained for all.
It's worth mentioning that the South Wales Traffic Management Centre lives in the roundabout. That's how big it is.
I've driven it dozens of times and never noticed I was on a roundabout. There again, it could because I was grateful to be leaving Cardiff....
I don't understand how you wouldn't notice you were on a roundabout...it seems quite obvious to me! But then again I've been using this junction since I was a kid!
But potentially heading towards Merthyr which is wholly worse
Cardiff is actually a good city compared to some pretty shyty English cities I know.
The connection from the west going north is very useful if you live in north-west Cardiff and are coming home from fhe Swansea direction. North Cardiff is basically missing an M4 connection so this lets you move quickly off the motorway up to Radyr without needing to join all the traffic lights you've mentioned.
Great video! I used to walk around this roundabout every lunchtime, until Covid struck and WFH became permanent. I've crunched around in the snow, rain, and baking heat. It's like a forgotten nature reserve known only by a few locals, cyclists, and some very large birds (feathered variety). I always wondered why such a huge underpass had been built just for a footpath, and the other mysterious concrete wall a few meters further on!
Love you Jon. You bring laughs everytime to brighten my day.
The shepherd and flock roundabout on the A31 near Aldershot and Farnham would make a good video
Hi Jon looks like you had a good time, go on treat your self one more lap of this roundabout i've only been on this junction once it was fun that must have been 2016 on my way to Cardiff. Great video take care
Drinking game - every time John says 'roundabout', drink a shot glass of cider :D
I love the music from Outrun.
Yes that was "Bloody Good", and the diving was also Tip Top!
Driving it semi-regularly it actually works quite well. But I also know what lane I need to be in to be where, lots of people do get some what confused
bravo for the Gran Tourismo music at the end
almost all greens on the roundabout tour. impressive
Thanks for this mate. Probably the most entertaining and informative video i'll watch today.
Wow John that was overwhelmingly exciting 😂😂😂😂😂😂❤
I use that roundabout every day for work and often wondered what I looked like before the M4 , thank you also never knew there were old bits still in situ .
The dedicated filter is there to stop traffic backing up on the eastbound M4. It used to be quite bad back in the day
It doesn't hurt that they've now got two lanes coming off the M4 there.
Remember the day that filter lane opened. They got the traffic light timing wrong and I was stuck on Northern avenue for over an hour trying to get onto the M4.
@@paulsengupta971 as long as everybody uses their common sense when you get to the A470 slip road for eastbound M4 trafic about 500 yards down from the traffic then it's not too bad.
Thanks
One of your best yet, john. The comments prove it 2 minutes to go round a roundabout amazing and ridiculous 😅
Should do a video on the M4 Junction 28 by newport, it's so awfully designed, like who thought that layout would be great, if you are used to it, then fine, but I remember first using it trying to get somewhere and I managed to take the wrong lanes twice before I got it right on the 3rd try, wasted half a hour going up and down the motorway.
So bloody good I went for a 2nd lap...most enjoyable 4 mins today ! 😊
That outro music was funky AF. Wicked bass line.
Yes, I can confirm having travelled around that roundabout many times that it is certainly the biggest roundabout that I have ever been round!
The gran Turismo music brings back some memories. Another great vid 👍🏾👍🏾
I live locally - that was the quickest lap I've ever experienced! 😂😂
Well played on the video, and you avoided that left fork that takes you to the desert stage with the big mountains....the Cardiff stage of Out Run.
Another Informative and excellent video Jon.
The amount of research that you do for our benefit is amazing John I’m so grateful. I’ve been through that junction on the M4 but was not aware of any of the information you gave us today. so thank you again.
Ooooh I've been wondering when you'll do this!?
This is the best video I've ever seen about anything
Although not the biggest roundabout/interchange, the one at J27 of the M62 must be one of the longest, timewise, to negotiate depending on your entry or exit points. In comprises junctions with A650, A62, M621 and of course M62. It can take about 7 minutes to go from A650 eastbound to A62 southwest. Of course, anyone with local knowledge wouldn't take that route but if you originally missed your turning (easily done) and need to make the full circuit you can add another couple of minutes.
It is of course a dumbell interchange, no doubt getting such a description from the person who designed it.
I can remember back in the 80`s the science programme "Tomorrows World" drove around the M25 at around 100MPH to demonstrate it just before it was opened for the first time.
The ending reminds me of the GT time trials where you have to pass as many cars as possible.
It’s a roundabout, but not as we know it Captain. I’m fairly sure that Radio Wales calls it the Coryton ‘Interchange'. Unless that’s another bit of road entirely.
The M25 clockwise is the largest roundabout
Impressive roundabout - almost a ring road, all it needs is a small village in the centre. Well, there’s room for one.
I know that junction quite well. The first time I used it was in 1994 in my Opel Kadett C, I had to go round it again because I was in the wrong lane.
If you went about 5 miles north there is a big roundabout on the A470 at Treforest Industrial estate.
A mere ⅓ mile around.
At Upper Boat?
the triple layer roundabout further down from this roundabout is interesting
@@mikeuk666 Further down? The Gabalfa flyover?
i love these videos, i just wish there were more motorways so 'secrets of the motorway' could carry on!!
i loved the one about the A40 park and ride, everyday i go past it and just think that could have been spent on a wider road! 😂
The two newer adjustments to it have made a huge difference
Stayed at the Holiday Inn on the north side of the junction far too many times for work when I had a site to run in Cardiff. Now stay there when I am visiting Bike Park Wales up the A470 at Merthyr because, well it is not Merthyr. Can recommend a trip up the full length of the A470 - fantastic trip though Wales
So that roundabout is longer than some motorways, such as the A308(M)?
Great vid as always
Nice to see the lane markings are so clear and well marked out. I would never end up in the wrong lane on here. PS Can we have a video about J34 of the M1?
I do love your informative and entertaining content, even your quirky presentation technique, but…………
You fly through the deets soooo quickly that I have to watch them a few times to get my head around what you mean.
Anyways, thanks 👍
In The Midlands they call it a Circle, which throws you when trying to find your destination in the late evening having driven up from civilisation, in the days before GPS.
I know it well but I did learn about some things I hadn't noticed before. Will be having a look out for them next time I'm using it. Most locals as far as I know just refer to it as Coryton. There is a railway station just south of the roundabout with the same name. They take it from the Cory family that were big in to coal and shipping in South Wales back in the day.
I regularly cross this using the A470 going back and forth from my uni to my partner and ive never noticed anything that was mentioned
Love the Music in the finals, Mind you I kept expecting you to run into a Bulldozer Blade 😂😂😂
What you forgot to mention it's probably the only roundabout with a speed camera on it😮
That is a red light camera
@@mikeuk666 🙈
Very good John!
I’m liking the dedicated single filter light on your chosen exit on its own pole. Something quite European about it.
This explains my confusion when I was going round this last year. I wondered why there was a monstrous one way system in place!
Worth a like for the real-time trip at the end 😍
Took a shot every time John said roundabout now I can't see straight 😵💫
Thanks for the full lap solely in the interests of science!
The outro. Yes! More jazz funk please.
Bloody clever ending!
I feel old. I remember the old Tongwynlais junction. When the M4 opened, it terminated at this roundabout as they had not built the bit around the top of Cardiff. We would come down the A470 and then around the roundabout and join it westward. I think all the motorway bridges were built - unlike what happens today, the A465 at Gilwern - but it took a few years for them to finish off the Cardiff-Newport section. Then there were no lights on the roundabout, but then it was the 1980s.
i remember the m4 ending at tredegar park. then a big gap past cardiff. pretty sure it started again down swansea way.
Depends what you mean by “finish off”. When they built the 30 to 32 section, it was 2 lane each way, then widened out to 3 each, but without rebuilding the bridges, hence there are gaps in the hard shoulder. Probably discourages them from making it, err, SMART!
@ by bridges I’m talking about those for the M4 on the roundabout. Now they don’t do that. Hence all the work at Gilwern and now Dowlais Top.
you got really lucky with them lights... usually you get stuck at every single one if one catches you...
Can anyone explain to me why it is that traffic lights are installed on roundabouts? Isn't the whole point of a roundabout to allow multiple roads to meet and keep traffic flowing? Or is there a logical reason i dont know about.
If you get your speed right, you can do full circuits of it without stopping. 👍
Watching a geezer talk about roads would usually be considered boring, but John’s sense of humour and personality make these what they are.
It’s definitely a roundabout.
You’d be surprised the difference the extra slip road from the eastbound M4 to northbound A470 makes. I used to drive it regularly and it was a nightmare before that was built.
The filter lane dose make a big difference because there are no Traffic lights!
I will have to shazam the music at the end for my own (partial) laps of the M4/A470 roundabout
I prefer Fleetwood Mac's The Chain. Specifically the bit about three minutes in.
@@paulsengupta971 🤣 are you secretly Nigel Mansell?
@@a-091-l2j I wish I had his money and talent!
@@paulsengupta971 I'd be happy with either, or the ability to grow such a marvellous mustache 🤣
Quality ...Interesting as ever John .... Shame about the royalty free music...... as ever..
peace
I just watched a video about a roundabout didn’t I? And it was fun!
I am great ! Thanks for asking and I am subscribed and that is wicked sweet and awesome. I also liked the vlog so I used the button specifically for that 😁
Done that 'roundabout' a lot, taking son to & from University of South Wales just off A470 at Pontypridd.
I’m sure that stretch of the A470 had motorway regulations. Definitely had a hard shoulder all the way to the end of the dual carriageway section, at Treharis, i think. Also had services at the top just before the roundabout at Treharis
I've driven the Sooty Van around that junction, Izzy whizzy it gets busy lol
I believe the largest true roundabout is at the eastern end of the A31 Farnham Surrey bypass. So big that it has a few houses, a small holding and a pubb on it.
Shepherd & Flock - It's certainly a contender. It is also likely quite rare in that it has a public exit "into" the roundabout (to access the pub etc.) - ie a right turn.
Oh, I know the one you mean, the Farnham Racetrack 😁
@@andymerrett I used to live in Farnham and enjoyed a few beers in the Shepherd & Flock.
@@trinity8101 You just got a hole in 1.
0.5 mile for full circuit, so not as big as Coryton, but then it depends if Coryton really is a roundabout or not
I use this roundabout a lot as i live 15 miles away from it
Watching the lap and thinking to myself "faster, faster, c'mon foot down"