Drivers face massive disruption when M5 bridge is closed
DRIVERS will face traffic chaos when a motorway bridge near Cheltenham is closed for a year.
The Highways Agency plans to demolish the 40-year-old bridge at junction 10 of the M5 in March next year and build a £12 million one by March 2013.
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The bridge at junction 10 will be replaced
It will mean the A4019 Tewkesbury Road being closed at that point and junction 10 being closed to northbound traffic.
Anxious councillors are now pressing for the work to be done as quickly as possible to help minimise disruption for motorists.
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Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham Borough Council and Tewkesbury Borough Council have joined forces to fiercely oppose the plan to close the main road for so long.
The Highways Agency is responsible for motorways and most trunk roads, meaning the councils cannot stop the closure going ahead. But they want the work done as quickly as possible.
Diversions are in the main likely to affect junctions eight, where the M5 meets the M50, and 11, the Gloucester and Cheltenham junction.
Councillor Will Windsor Clive, the county council's cabinet member for communities, which includes highways, said: "There's no doubt this closure will cause major disruption and the three councils will continue to push the Highways Agency to get this work finished as quickly as possible. This is a big project but we simply don't believe it will take a whole year for this work to be carried out."
The council's list of demands, which the agency says it hopes to be able to meet, includes 24-hour working and a full traffic plan being produced to take into account the impact on local roads.
Councillor Steve Jordan, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, said: "This is a substantial engineering project which will clearly cause significant disruption to the town.
"It is vital that the time the bridge is out of action is kept to a minimum. We will do all we can, working with the county council, to assist the Highways Agency in completing the project in the shortest possible time.
"We will also be requesting that the agency explain their proposals in greater detail to affected communities, businesses and the general public."
Tewkesbury Borough Council's lead member for economic development and promotion, Councillor Dave Waters, added: "Unfortunately, the closure of this road will have a significant impact on our residents and on those people who use this road to go to and from our area, including Tewkesbury and many of our rural communities.
"Closing this road for a year, in addition to the inconvenience, will seriously affect our residents, visitors and the local economy, so we will be working closely with our partners to make sure the impact is as minimal as possible."
Dave Sledge, the Highways Agency's area delivery manager, said: "We are taking Gloucestershire County Council and our partners' concerns very seriously, which is why we have been working very closely with them for the last two years on the development of this scheme.
"The bridge is now approaching the end of its working life so we needed to take action to maintain safety and protect this important link between Cheltenham and Gloucester."
* The work will take place after the National Hunt Festival.
Comments
by Cliffrat
Sunday, October 09 2011, 8:58PM
“Why not do the sensible thing and build a new bridge slightly re-located first. divert the roads then demolish the old bridge? Oh heck, that is logical, sensible and against all Gov//Highways mental capabilities.”
by Cliffrat
Sunday, October 09 2011, 8:43PM
“Why not do the sensible thing and build a new bridge slightly re-located first. divert the roads then demolish the old bridge? Oh heck, that is logical, sensible and against all Gov//Highways mental capabilities.”
by Cliffrat
Sunday, October 09 2011, 8:40PM
“Why not do the sensible thing and build a new bridge slightly re-located first. divert the roads then demolish the old bridge? Oh heck, that is logical, sensible and against all Gov//Highways mental capabilities.”
by Louise9099
Sunday, October 09 2011, 6:16PM
“I am surprised that no one has actually commented on the huge inmpact this is going to have on the town in the year that it is closed (not just race goers!!!). I use this junction everyday, as unfortunately Cheltenham no longer has any major employers in the town I have to commute. This is going to add at least half an hour onto my journey, just to get on at J11 rather than 10, without counting the extra time due to congestion when on the motorway. All roads leading to the M5 will be soild - A46 through Bishops Cleeve onto j9 and A40 onto j11(which is pretty horrific anyway) I'm no expert on planning etc, but there must be a better way of doing this - please!”
by glostraveller
Saturday, October 08 2011, 9:21PM
“Looking around the web there is no mention of expanding the junction , only replacement of the 4 span bridge with a new 2 span bridge. It would be good of TIG to undertake some investigation into what the options for consideration where and why
http://tinyurl.com/6ego8tm”
by tommadeit
Saturday, October 08 2011, 8:41PM
“All bad things can be turned around - if the queues are stationery GCC could charge for parking.”
by glostraveller
Saturday, October 08 2011, 8:24PM
“So when will someone actually consult the regular users of the A4019 about this and the disruption and additional cost it will cause or will it simply be done without consultation.
If we are to put up with a years disruption I would seriously hope they improve the junction and allow full access to the Motorway North and Southbound and alleviate the current traffic congestion to junction 11 from the North side of the town as this will only get worse especially if for example the Racecourse puts on more events or Cheltenham Town FC ever did relocate.”
by Matt1006
Saturday, October 08 2011, 6:55PM
“Nothing on the Highways Agency website yet about this work, so no indication as to whether it will include works to improve / increase the actual motorway junction.
It is a dual-carriageway bridge (forward planning used there - shame the Tewkesbury Road is only single-carriageway either side of the bridge...), but £12m sounds like a lot of money to "just" replace an old bridge, so perhaps the scheme is more involved. Perhaps TiG could do some extra digging to establish what the full nature of the works will be.
As to houses being in the way for a possible enhancement of the junction, this is easily overcome with CPO's. And there is plenty of land to the north-east and south-west of the junction, so a split junction could easily be built.”
by Chan11
Saturday, October 08 2011, 6:52PM
“If this bridge needs replacing, surely all the M5 bridges need to be replaced.
I thought they were all built at about the same time.
In other places along the M5, the bridges have just been strengthened,
without any closure to roads; just lane restrictions and lowered speed limits.”
by Matt1006
Saturday, October 08 2011, 6:52PM
“Nothing on the Highways Agency website yet about this work, so no indication as to whether it will include works to improve / increase the actual motorway junction.
It is a dual-carriageway bridge (forward planning used there - shame the Tewkesbury Road is only single-carriageway either side of the bridge...), but £12m sounds like a lot of money to "just" replace an old bridge, so perhaps the scheme is more involved. Perhaps TiG could do some extra digging to establish what the full nature of the works will be.
As to houses being in the way for a possible enhancement of the junction, this is easily overcome with CPO's. And there is plenty of land to the north-east and south-west of the junction, so a split junction could easily be built.”