Major motorway to shut in both directions for two days THIS WEEKEND as bridge is demolished – check your route
A MAJOR motorway is set to close this weekend with a handful of diversion routes put in place.
Drivers will be frustrated to discover that the M4 will be shut as a fresh batch of scheduled roadworks come into effect.
An overbridge on the popular motorway will be demolished after being closed to the public for two years.
From March 21 until March 24, motorists will be affected by the construction works.
It comes after concrete on the bridge was found to be cracking and damage to the post-tensioning system was discovered.
The M4 will be closed in both directions between junction 18 and junction 19 from 7pm on Friday until 6am on Monday.
A diversion will be signposted for motorists during the weekend.
It is expected a freshly built bridge will be opened in March next year.
M25 inconvenience
It comes as Britain’s busiest motorway is set to close again this weekend leaving thousands of drivers affected.
The closures are on junction 10 of the M25, near Wisley in Surrey where the motorway meets the A3, and junction 11, near Woking, in both directions.
Junction 10 is the busiest section of the M25, which sees more than 300,000 vehicles pass through each day.
The section was already closed last weekend from Friday, March 7 to Monday, March 10, causing travel chaos to thousands.
And now National Highways has warned drivers that it’s due to shut again and to expect delays.
The closures are part of a £317m improvement works to add extra lanes.
National Highways have said this set of M25 closures will be the final ones for this project.
Last year, National Highways closed part of the motorway three times as it undergoes the multi-million pound upgrade.
The infrastructure project began in 2022 but “extreme weather” has pushed back the expected completion date to spring 2026, said National Highways.
Some elements of the project have already been completed, including the new Wisley Lane and four gyratory bridges.
Landscaping has also been done and signs have been removed from the gantry.
Jonathan Wade, project manager, told BBC Radio Surrey the next closure was a “little bit more tricky” because it’s close to one of the new bridges.
He said: “There were lessons learned over the weekend, so we’re looking forward to doing that.
“We did see quite a lot of traffic so sincere apologies to those who were delayed.”
He also thanked local residents “who bore the brunt of a lot of the traffic”, and said: “We are aware that these things aren’t great and they do have an impact on people’s lives.”
M4 diversion this weekend
- From M4 junction 18, exit the motorway roundabout to the A46 heading towards Bath
- At the A46/A420 junction just past Pennsylvania take the A420 towards Warmley
- At the A420/A4174 junction in Warmley, take the A4174 towards the M32
- Join the M32 at Junction 1 and head to the M4 Junction 19