Traveling from newport to gloucester

al_thor

Hi guys,
i am going to be commuting from newport to gloucester and back every day for few months on a teaching course. Having looked at google maps there seems to be two routes that i can see. One with the toll bridge (m4/m5) and one wiithout. (A40) can you recommend which is the better route. My plan is to start and leave home by 6.30 am.

I am already resigned to the high travel costs that awaits me

Mercdriver

al_thor wrote: »

Hi guys,
i am going to be commuting from newport to gloucester and back every day for few months on a teaching course. Having looked at google maps there seems to be two routes that i can see. One with the toll bridge (m4/m5) and one wiithout. (A40) can you recommend which is the better route. My plan is to start and leave home by 6.30 am.

I am already resigned to the high travel costs that awaits me

Apple Maps tells me 1hr 9 mins M4/M5 and 1 hr 10 mins A449/A40/M50/M5/A40...

Do the M4/M5 to Gloucester, do the A40/M50 route on return to save on toll, though with the hills on the A40, you may use a little more fuel.

Lorian

I agree. It aways feels faster over the bridge, More so than the timings suggest, but I hate paying the toll.

daveyjp

My preference is A40 as I have never known it very busy.

However it also depends where you are going in Gloucester. M5 is good for the east, A40 may be more convenient for the centre.

al_thor

Thanks for the replies everyone. Well i am going to commute to gloucester academy. so looks like the m5 is the quickest way?? But that is through the bridge. which i hate paying tolls. would the a40 which is the longer route be quite busy in the mornings?

ssparks2003

Why not come across the bridge in the morning and use the other route in the evening saving £6+ per day?

bigadaj

There's also the option of the A48 up the Severn, google maps suggests similar time to A449 but a few miles less so reduces the mileage slightly.

iolanthe07

The toll is set to reduce and then be abolished, starting next year.

no1catman

The Chepstow - Lydney - Gloucester way is the more direct less mileage, though slower. Or should it be Gloucester - Lydney - Chepstow - Newport for the way back. Using the M4/M5 route for the morning route.
I well remember going that way to Birdlip, doing 100 to 115 mph to make-up time - but then again that was back in 1990, I wouldn't recommend trying it now!

bigadaj

no1catman wrote: »

The Chepstow - Lydney - Gloucester way is the more direct less mileage, though slower. Or should it be Gloucester - Lydney - Chepstow - Newport for the way back. Using the M4/M5 route for the morning route.
I well remember going that way to Birdlip, doing 100 to 115 mph to make-up time - but then again that was back in 1990, I wouldn't recommend trying it now!

Where the hell do you do anywhere near 100 on that whole route?

GCC were trying to get the highways agency interested in the crickley hill duelling again when I worked in the area a few years ago, having worked on the whole M4M5 link in the nineties.

The problem is the treasury has got wise to a large part of ballooning budgets (on projects involving the air balloon or not) with large inflation and fudge factors, so they currently estimate around a billion for that one, it's a little way down the list though would solve a few problems at rush hour.

daveyjp

Decades ago I used to use the A48 for variety. A great route and not much longer than M50.

Then the road sign manufacturers must have had a sale and it became 50mph with cameras everywhere. Not used it since.