National Highways is advising drivers using the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge between England and Wales to plan their journeys this week as essential work continues with overnight closures.
As part of the government-owned company’s long-term maintenance of the bridge, it needs to waterproof and resurface 1km of the cable stay bridge.
The work is being carried out in phases using a mixture of overnight and lane closures, and there is a temporary contraflow and reduced speed limit on the bridge to keep two lanes open in each direction.
Closure information
Tuesday 3 to Saturday 7 September: the M4 westbound between junctions 21 and 23 will be closed from 8:30pm to 6am each night for resurfacing and to move the contraflow. The road will reopen on Sunday 8 September at 6am.
Tuesday 3 to Friday 6 September: the M4 eastbound between junctions 23 and 21 will be closed from 8:30pm to 6am each night for resurfacing. The road will reopen on Saturday 7 September at 6am.
Tuesday 3 September: the M49 northbound will be closed from 8:30pm to 6am to help keep local roads moving during the closures.
Once this phase of the work is completed there will still be one lane of westbound traffic (towards Wales) using the eastbound carriageway, but the lane used by traffic on the westbound carriageway will change – shown as phase 3 on the diagram below.
During the closures, a diversion will be in place via the M48.
Work has been planned for the summer and autumn to reduce the risk of bad weather that would result in the M48 Severn Bridge closing due to high winds and a 40mph speed limit will be in place for the safety of motorists and workers on the bridge.
The work will include:
- Removing the existing surfacing and waterproofing layer;
- Inspecting the concrete bridge deck and carrying out repairs.
- Applying a waterproofing system.
- Resurfacing.
For more details on National Highways’ work on the Prince of Wales Bridge including timelapse footage of the work so far, visit https://nationalhighways.co.uk/our-roads/south-west/m4-prince-of-wales-bridge-resurfacing/ and for live traffic updates follow the @HighwaysSWEST X (formerly Twitter) feed and www.trafficengland.com
