Which motorway crosses the original Severn Bridge – the M4 was diverted when the second crossing opened?
M4 motorway carriageway to Carmarthenshire. The English section of the motorway was completed on 22 December 1971 when the stretch between junctions 9 and 15 (Maidenhead and Swindon) was opened to traffic. The Welsh section was completed in 1993, when the Briton Ferry motorway bridge opened. The Second Severn Crossing opened in 1996, together with new link motorways on either side of the estuary to divert the M4 over the new crossing. The existing route over the Severn Bridge was redesignated the M48, and the new M49 was opened to connect the new crossing to the M5. In June 1999, the third
Second Severn Crossing Second Severn Crossing The Second Severn Crossing ()officially renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge ()is the M4 motorway bridge over the River Severn between England and Wales, inaugurated on 5 June 1996 by HRH The Prince of Wales to supplement the traffic capacity of the Severn Bridge built in 1966. The bridge is operated by Highways England. It was announced on 5 April 2018 that it was to be renamed the Prince of Wales Bridge, and on 2 July 2018 the bridge was renamed in a ceremony conducted by the Prince. The Second Severn Crossing marks the lower limit of