Drivers warned of full M4 bridge closures coming within days

Drivers using the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge between England and Wales have been told to plan their journeys and allow extra time as the final phase of resurfacing gets underway.

As part of the long-term maintenance of the bridge, National Highways has said it needs to finalise its work to waterproof and resurface 1km of the cable stay bridge.

This work will be carried out using a mixture of overnight and lane closures, and there will be a temporary contraflow and reduced speed limit on the bridge to keep two lanes open in each direction.

The work will start with some overnight closures at the end of April for preparation and to set up the contraflow for early May. The contraflow will then be in place until July, weather dependant, with work set to fully complete in autumn.

Westbound overnight closures

Some overnight closures are needed to complete resurfacing works to the westbound carriageway. They are as follows.

Sunday, April 27 - Four nights (9pm – 6am) overnight westbound closure.

A diversion will be in place via the M48 Severn Bridge.

Narrow lanes and a contraflow will then be installed under overnight closures in preparation for eastbound resurfacing.

Full overnight closures

Thursday, May 1 - Two nights, (9pm – 6am) full overnight closures of eastbound and westbound carriageways on both nights.

Tuesday, May 6 - One night (9pm – 6am) full overnight closures of eastbound and westbound carriageways.

Wednesday May 7- One night (9pm – 6am) full overnight closures of eastbound carriageway.

A diversion will be in place via the M48 Severn Bridge from 6am on Wednesday, May 7, and the contraflow will be in place, along with a 40mph limit across the bridge. HGVs will be able to use both running lanes, including the contraflow lane.

National Highways has said it will introduce a 7.5t weight restriction for heavy goods vehicles (HGVs) on the M48 Severn Bridge from May 27 for an estimated 12 to 18 months.

It said routine surveys on the M48 Severn Bridge had revealed that the main bridge cables had "deteriorated and weakened".

It said it needed to reduce the load on these cables to keep the bridge open for most traffic, and that for the time being, this meant removing the heaviest goods vehicles.