Our roads are on the edge.
One motorway collision can force 52,000 extra cars and lorries on to our local roads and cause gridlock.
To highlight the problems and potential solutions to our over-burdened routes, we are putting together an in-depth Commuting Week here at BBC West.
Thirty years ago
The M4 was built 30 years ago to solve the growing traffic problem of the early 1970s. BBC West made a programme to mark the occasion. A Million Pounds a Mile was transmitted on 4 January 1972.
The programme features the final linking of the M4 and M5 north of Bristol with a young Michael Heseltine presiding - and you can watch it here on BBCi.
Next month, Close-Up West will feature a special programme about our under-pressure motorway network.
Your views
We will be examining the issues of increasing gridlock on our roads in a series of radio and television programmes and we want your opinions, stories and experiences.
Do you have an alternative way to travel into work?
Or maybe you are one of the thousands of commuters who get stuck in the region's daily jams? Close-Up West and BBC local radio want to feature people who use the region's roads.
We are especially keen to hear from anyone who commutes by car from the east of Bristol, using the M4 and M32 during rush hour.
We want to follow you on your journey and see your problems first hand. E-mail us now with your views, experiences and memories of the region's motorways. The music in “A Million Pounds a Mile” Written, composed and performed (in song and on guitar by I.A. Woods & E.J. Bloomfield. | 
Motorway gridlock special
