Flashback to bypass in 1973

What a carve up! Work is well under way on the M54 Wellington bypass in the spring of 1973.

This photo from our files appears to have been first published on May 2 of that year with the caption: "The extensive works near the Hampton Hill housing area."

The motorway opened on December 11, 1975, and at only 4.5 miles long, it really was just a mere bypass.

The full motorway, linking it to the M6, was built a few years later, opening in November 1983.

In the meantime the decision had been taken to downgrade the M54 motorway from three lanes to two - which is why the original Wellington bypass stretch has three lanes, and the more modern part only two.