M5 motorway: Drivers warned of weekend overnight closure

Work taking place to remove signage from the M5 gantry on Thursday 2 March. Credit: National Highways

Drivers are being warned to plan their journeys ahead of time as a section of the M5 motorway near Bristol closes overnight to remove a damaged gantry.

It comes after the motorway was partially closed for nine hours on Thursday (March 2) after a tipper truck crashed into an overhead gantry causing serious delays in and around Bristol for most of the day.

The M5 will be closed between junction 17 and junction 18 from 8pm on Saturday (March 4) night to 8am on Sunday morning (March 5) to allow crews to remove the superspan gantry damaged in the lorry collision.

The junction 17 southbound entry slip road will also be closed for a short time tonight (Friday 3 March) to enable work to isolate electrics and remove cabling from the structure.

The lorry pictured stuck in the overhead gantry on the M5. Credit: Carar Tyer

Terry Robinson, South West Engineering Manager for National Highways, said: “Although the gantry is structurally safe, it has suffered damage which can’t be repaired with the gantry in place.

"The gantry will be removed, repaired and reinstalled to ensure we can reinstate technology and signage as quickly as possible.

“We appreciate road closures can be frustrating, and we thank people in advance for their patience and cooperation while we carry out the removal work.”

Signed diversions will be in place for the Saturday to Sunday overnight closure.

The southbound traffic will be diverted from the J15 interchange to M4 junction 22 and the M49 to rejoin the M5 at junction 18. The northbound diversion will be in reverse.