Brynglas Tunnels

This is an aerial photo I've been meaning to get for a while. It's of the Brynglas Tunnels on The M4 at Newport, South Wales between junctions 25 and 26. The tunnels remain a bottleneck on the motorway and partly due to regular tailbacks at the tunnels, a variable speed limit is in place between junctions 24 and 28. You can drive from London and this is the most likely place you'll be stuck in a jam after the Severn Bridge tolls! The main reason is the motorway is at least 3 lanes but it reduces to 2 lanes through the tunnels in each direction.

The tunnels carry the M4 traffic under Brynglas Hill. The 1,200-foot-long  twin-bored tunnels were the first tunnels in the British motorway network and are still the only bored tunnels!

Work started on 10 September 1962 and finished in May 1967.

In the blip picture, the tunnels are in the centre of the photo. You can zoom in 50% and see the detail. On the horizon you can see the Bristol Channel and to the right, Twmbarlwm Mountain (an Iron Age Hillfort).
Between them, the M4 continues West towards Cardiff and West Wales.
The bridge in the picture crosses over The River Usk.