Category: News

From Peter Jones, from GWR:
“As we approach the Christmas getaway I just wanted to get in touch with a thank you for your patience over the past 12 months as we have worked to carry out major improvements to the railway. Further to the passenger engagement and other communications activity we have been doing jointly to raise awareness about Christmas upgrade work, I’d also like to take the opportunity to highlight the key points that may affect you or your colleagues and contacts.

If you’re travelling by train from Bristol Parkway station on Monday 24 December (Christmas Eve) please note that the front entrance of the station and a section of Hatchet Road will be closed to enable us to set up a crane on the roundabout to install a large signalling structure. Vehicles will not be able to access the station from Hatchet Road from 6.00am on 24 December until 4.30am on 27 December and will instead need to use Hunts Ground Road. Walking routes will remain in place. Please leave extra time for journey, whether travelling by car, bus or on foot. Public buses will not use the station bus stops during this time. Therefore, station users will need to use the bus stops marked ‘Ratcliffe Drive’ on Hatchet Road.

 

From Tuesday 25 December (Christmas Day) through to Tuesday 1 January (New Year’s Day) we will be continuing our electrification upgrade, working 24/7 on the line between Bristol Parkway station and South Wales:

installing further wiring runs on the open line between Patchway station and the Severn tunnel, through Pilning
installing wiring and carrying out repairs to drainage inside the Patchway tunnels.

As usual, no trains run on Christmas Day or Boxing Day, but from Thursday 27 December until Tuesday 1 January they are also being replaced by buses between Bristol Parkway and Newport, and between Gloucester and South Wales.

Please also be aware of track renewal work happening in the Westbury area, meaning services via Westbury are diverted or replaced by buses from Sunday 23 December to Thursday 3 January.
On 27 and 28 December as well as 2 and 3 January there will be one bus in both directions operating between Westbury and Pewsey.

For more information about these projects, please see the following documents attached:

Patchway Tunnels fact sheet
Patchway Tunnels poster (for use in office kitchens, print rooms etc)
Westbury Upgrade factsheet
Christmas and New Year message from GWR.

 

Highways England is contacting local businesses and residents in the areas surrounding the Severn Bridges in order to let you know about the roadworks that will be taking place in the coming weeks.

Please see the information below, which can also be found on our website: www.SevernBridge.co.uk.

We’re kindly asking that you inform staff, drivers and guests, especially those attending Christmas parties in the surrounding areas of the works, and encourage anyone who may be affected to plan their journeys accordingly.

Please find a copy of a poster that highlights the works over the festive period at this link on our website.

This e-mail covers the ‘temporary works’ needed to make the temporary free-flowing lanes; more information will be distributed in the coming weeks about the second phase of the works which covers the permanent solution and is scheduled to begin in late January 2019.

Any queries can be directed to the team at: [email protected]

Work to create a toll-free journey starts with M4 
Work by Highways England to create a toll-free journey for drivers heading into Wales will start next week.  Both bridges over the Severn river to Wales will undergo changes to create a route that means drivers will no longer have to stop to pay a  toll.

Severn Bridges General Manager, Hannah Milliner, said: “Work is needed to make sure that drivers can safely travel across the bridges without stopping to pay a toll, or waiting for a barrier to be raised.  The weekend we have chosen avoids peak period traffic and also means that the work will be complete so that drivers can make journeys free of charge over the festive period.

“We would like to thank drivers in advance for their patience while we carry out this work and to ask them to plan ahead for any journeys they are considering.”
Friday 14 December
From 9am on 14 December three toll lanes will be closed on the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge to allow work to start.

 

The M48 bridge will operate as usual.

At 8pm the Prince of Wales Bridge will be fully closed westbound and drivers will be diverted via the M48 bridge.
Saturday 15 and Sunday 16 December
This same pattern will continue over the weekend with the bridge running with three toll lanes closed from 6am to 8pm on Saturday and 6am to 7pm on Sunday.

Overnight the bridge will be fully closed westbound and drivers will be diverted via the M48 bridge.

 
Monday 17 December
On Monday 17 December, the Prince of Wales bridge will reopen with three free flowing lanes.  These will be narrow lanes with a 50mph speed limit to ensure the safety of drivers.

 

Shortly after the Prince of Wales bridge reopens on 17 December, the M48 bridge will be fully closed westbound, reopening on the morning of 19 December with two free flowing lanes.  These will be narrow lanes with a 50mph speed limit to ensure the safety of drivers.

 

Further work will be carried out in 2019 to return both routes to a three lane motorway with the usual 70mph speed limit.

Hannah added: “This is a significant piece of work which is far more complex than simply removing toll booths.  We want to make sure that journeys can be completed safely and free of charge by the end of the year and will then focus on the next stage of work.”

Other changes taking place include the closure of the M4 Rogiet Tag office.

Information for Tag holders has been provided directly to account holders, a summary can be found on the Account closure page.

Drivers can keep up to date with closures via this website; all closures will also be published on the Maintenance and Closures page.

Details can also be found on Twitter by following us @HighwaysSWEST.

 

 

The M49 will be closed overnight, in both directions, on Tuesday 13 and Wednesday 14 November between 20:00 – 06:00.

The closure will allow the installation of temporary speed cameras to help with the enforcement of traffic restrictions that are in place while work is carried out on the new motorway junction.

Highways England (HE) is undertaking a scheme to install new driver information signs between junction 17 and 18 (northbound and southbound) on the M5.

The scheme will improve the quality and consistency of driver information along this stretch of the M5. It will give the South West Regional Control Centre greater visibility of this area of the network in order to detect and warn approaching traffic of any incidents or queuing ahead.