Public Story
Bypassed
Bypassed is an exploration of the lasting effects of the M4 motorway on the physical and psychological landscape of Port Talbot, Wales. Hailed as a major engineering achievement upon its opening in 1966, Wales' first motorway required the demolition of large swaths of the town, and displaced hundreds from their homes and businesses. While considered a sign of progress, the shortsightedness of its design features and placement through the town has begun to show through the following decades. The motorway's expansion coincided with a decline in the steel industry, slowly emptying out the nearby Port Talbot Steelworks, which had once been at the center of the town's success. Today, the uncertain future for the steelworks weighs heavily on residents, while the motorway serves as a constant reminder that their town has become a place not worth stopping for.
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