Bradley Stoke Journal | M4/M5 Managed Motorways

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M4/M5 Managed Motorways

The £88.6m managed motorway scheme – the first of its kind in the South West – will involve the use of variable mandatory speed limits and use of the hard shoulder as an extra traffic lane to ease congestion.

The scheme will be implemented on the M4 between the top of the M32 and the Almondsbury Interchange and on the M5 between Cribbs Causeway and the Almondsbury Interchange.

The Highways Agency says the work is needed because the route suffers from heavy congestion and unpredictable journey times.

Project Timescales

Preparatory work begins: November 2011
M4 construction work commences in January 2012 and will be ongoing until December 2012
M5 construction work commences April 2012 and the scheme will be completed in spring 2013

Comprehensive information about the scheme can be found here:

M4 J19-20 and M5 J15-17 Managed Motorways (Highways Agency)

Public Consultation

A public consultation exhibition was held in Bradley Stoke on 4th November 2011.

The display panels from the exhibition may be viewed here:

M4 J19-20 and M5 J15-17 Managed Motorways Start of Works Exhibition Boards [PDF, 4MB]

Latest News from the Highways Agency

19th April 2008 | Press release
Overnight closures on the M5 and M4 near Bristol as work on the managed motorway scheme continues
As part of the work to deliver the M4 and M5 managed motorway scheme at the Almondsbury interchange, near Bristol, there will be further overnight closures of the M5 motorway, in one direction at a time, on weekday nights from 23 April to 1 May.

3rd April 2012 | Press release
Overnight closures of the M5 near Bristol this month as work to deliver the managed motorway scheme continues
As part of the work to transform the M4 and M5 at the Almondsbury interchange near Bristol to a managed motorway, the M5 motorway will be closed overnight, in one direction at a time, from 10 to 15 April

27th January 2012 | Press release
Work to Install Temporary Safety Barriers for M4-M5 Managed Motorways Scheme
Overnight slip-road closures at the Almondsbury Interchange, near Bristol, will be in place from 30th January for five nights, to allow temporary safety barriers to be installed. Diversions for M5 southbound traffic wishing to join M4 (eastbound and westbound).

12th January 2011 | Website article
Impact on your journey

9th January 2012 | Press release
Overnight closures of the M4 near Bristol this month

Latest News (Parish Bulletins)

Parish Bulletin Number 5 (May 2012)

Traffic management activities during May 2012

The installation of narrow lanes on the M5, which commenced on 10th April, is now nearly complete. To complete this section of the works, the following closures will be carried out. Closures will be in effect from as early as 9pm, if traffic flows are low enough, and will be removed by 6am the following day.

M4 & M5 closures during May 2012:

1st May – M4 Junction 19 Westbound onslip
2nd & 3rd May – M5 Southbound Junction 17 exit sliproad – to install temporary safety barrier.
4th May – M4 Eastbound to M5 Northbound and M4 Westbound to M5 Northbound Almondsbury Interchange link roads.
18th May – M5 Southbound Junction 15 to M5 Junction 16.
29th, 30th & 31st May – M4 Eastbound and Westbound between Junctions 19 & 20.

Construction activities during May 2012