Motorway closures to see some drivers face 100-mile diversion through Gloucestershire

Key motorway routes linking parts of the South West and Bristol are to be shut over three nights this week with a 100-mile diversion route for some into Gloucestershire. It's linked to a major roadwork scheme that is entering its second phase.

The eastbound M4 between junction 23A for Magor and junction 22 for Pilning and the M49 on the Bristol side of the Prince of Wales Bridge will be closed between 8pm and 6am on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday this week, (May 30 to the morning of June 2), BristolLive reports^[1]

The M48 will also be closed eastbound from the point where it splits from the M4 at Magor, all the way to junction two at Chepstow. Highways Wales say they are doing this to prevent access to the roadworks area on the M4.

Drivers heading from South Wales to Bristol and the South West on the M4 will be diverted off the motorway and be directed along the A48 to Chepstow instead, and back onto the M48 to go over the old Severn Bridge there.

But drivers of any vehicle over 15ft high - so lorries, trucks, and double decker buses - will be taken on a much longer diversion, up the M50 to Gloucestershire and back down the M5. That diversion makes the distance from Newport to the Almondsbury Interchange - normally around 17 miles, into a 100 mile trip.

The diversion will also affect the M49 from the Prince of Wales Bridge to Avonmouth, with no traffic coming over the bridge, and all drivers heading down the M5 towards Avonmouth instead. Highways Wales said they are carrying out ‘essential works to carriageway patch repairs at various locations’. It is the second phase of work - the westbound side was completed with three overnight closures last week.

References

1. ^{^} BristolLive reports (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Man 'surrenders' to police after six-hour stand-off (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)