Travel warning due to closure of M4 Severn Bridge and Tunnel for works

Passengers on the busiest routes between Wales and England will face disruption from Wednesday as both the M4 Severn Bridge and the Severn Rail Tunnel are closed for repairs.

Trains between South Wales and Bristol, London and the south coast of England will be affected by the Severn Tunnel closed for 16 days from Wednesday until July 19.

Drivers are warned The M4 Prince of Wales Bridge will be closed in one direction for five nights in July, starting from July 15th.

People are being told to use the original M48 Severn Bridge as a diversion route when the M4 crossing is closed.

Highways England, which maintains the two Severn bridges, warned commuters and tourists that they will face delays until the autumn as a dual carriageway is introduced on the bridge to allow workers to resurface the road.

This means that in July the only main route between South Wales and the South West of England will sometimes be over the M48 bridge, which links Chepstow and Australia.

• On Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 July, the westbound carriageway of the M4 will be closed and eastbound traffic will be reduced to one lane between 22:00 BST and 06:00 the following morning.
• On Wednesday 17 and Thursday 18 July, the eastbound carriageway of the M4 will be closed between 21:00 and 06:00 the following morning.
• On Saturday 20 July, the westbound carriageway of the M4 will be closed between 22:00 and 06:00 the following morning.
• On Saturday 27 July, the westbound carriageway of the M4 will be closed between 22:00 and 06:00.
• From 06:00 on Sunday 28 July, a reduced speed limit and two-lane traffic control will apply on the M4 bridge. This control will remain in place throughout the summer.

Highways England has said that more frequent night-time closures of the M4 bridge will be required later in the summer and autumn as road resurfacing work progresses.

“If you use the bridge this summer, please expect delays and be prepared to use the M48 to ease congestion,” the roads agency said.

“By carrying out this work in the summer, you reduce the chance of the M48 bridge being closed due to the weather, and you create an alternative route for anyone wanting to cross the river.”

This comes as rail passengers between South Wales and England face more than two weeks of disruption due to the closure of the Severn Tunnel between Wednesday 3 July and Tuesday 19 July.

This means that passengers on mainline trains between South Wales and London will have an additional journey time of at least an hour, as the train will run via Gloucester and will not stop in Bristol.

Network Rail has also warned that a limited replacement train service will run between Newport, Severn Tunnel Junction and Bristol Parkway, and that there will be no direct train service to Bristol Temple Meads.

Engineers will replace four miles (7km) of track – the entire length of the South Wales side – by installing 66 new rails.

The team will also install 10,800 sleepers and more than 22,000 tonnes of new ballast and remove 21,000 tonnes of soil.

Workers will also replace around 900m (2,950ft) of track at Cattybrook near Almondsbury and more than 230m (750ft) of track drainage will be replaced at Patchway Gap – between the two Patchway tunnels near Bristol.

The Severn Tunnel will also be closed during the weekend of 27-28 July and 24-25 August for follow-up works.

Music lovers attending large outdoor concerts in South Wales in July may experience disruption to their journey to and from concerts. They have been warned to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journey.

Shania Twain, Sir Tom Jones and Hozier are booked to perform at Chepstow Racecourse on July 5, July 6 and July 9 respectively, while the Severn Tunnel is closed.

The National, Manic Street Preachers, Suede, JLS, Idles, Noel Gallagher, Madness and Rick Astley will also play Cardiff Castle when the tunnel is closed.