A £50m 'dead end' motorway junction that cannot be used by traffic because it is not connected to the road network has received a £1m cash boost.
The majority of the work on the M49 junction, near Avonmouth, was finished by Highways England in 2019, but a link road connecting it t the motorway has not been built.
After months of disagreements over who is responsible for building the link road, the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) has allocated funding to help construct it.
The two-bridge junction is due to connect warehouse and distribution centre Central Park, used by major companies including Tesco and Amazon, to the motorway. The park's developer, Delta Properties, currently owns the land on which the access is to be built.
A completion date is yet to be confirmed, but Pilning and Severn Beach Parish Council chairman, Peter Tyzack, told Business Live 's sister site Bristol Live his understanding is the work will take a year.
"I understand that the designs have been done and signed off by Highways England and South Gloucestershire Council, so there's nothing to hold them up once a contractor can be appointed," he said. "The building of the ramp will take time as it has to be 'surcharged' and allowed to settle."
Mr Tyzack welcomed the news, but said the problem should have been resolved sooner.
In January, South Gloucestershire Council said the responsibility for building the road lay with Delta and that it was “working to influence” construction.
But Delta Properties has refuted the claim, saying it owes “no legal obligation” to any public body to construct the road infrastructure associated with the new junction.
A Weca spokesman said: "Weca and South Gloucestershire Council will discuss with the developer to agree the delivery of the link road between the M49 Junction and Goldcrest Way.
"Weca has allocated £1m to support these works. At this stage we cannot give a definitive date for the completion of the link road until legal agreements have been concluded and a delivery programme agreed between the parties involved."
Councillor Robert Griffin, for Pilning and Severn Beach, said completion "cannot come soon enough" at a meeting on the issue last week.
He said: "This junction not only means a lot to our area in terms of the attractiveness of the Severnside area to businesses with simpler connectivity between the industrial and business parks and the motorway network.
"It also means so much to the communities of Easter Compton, Hallen, Pilning and Severn Beach as the constant train of HGVs rolling through the villages will be diverted to a much more efficient, shorter and safer route.
"I would ask that the Combined Authority also continues its work alongside South Gloucestershire Council to keep the pressure on the landowner and Highways England through the final stages of this project to ensure a swift and satisfactory conclusion."
Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti, who raised the delays in Parliament in December, called the cash injection "excellent news".
He said: "We can finally get this vital piece of infrastructure connected to support jobs and investment for our region."
Delta declined to comment on the announcement.
