Closed
M49 south on M5 south J18/18a YET AGAIN no prior warnings of slip road closures overnight 25th/26th July
Sent to National Highways less than a minute later. FixMyStreet ref: 3714444.
Overnight on Monday 25th-Tuesday 26th I travelled down the M49 only to realise at the very last moment the M5 on-slip south closed even though there was no advanced warnings either by signs or matrix signs, until very last moment which resulted in yet another costly detour through Bristol and back out for myself and no doubt many others in todays fuel costs.
Absolutely effortless to resolve but yet again why have signs not been adequately placed in advanced? In this example having signs along the M4 from Severn Bridge or on the M49 itself.
Plus I do not see anything that has changed as a result of the closure, nothing has changed, no resurfacing or defects fixed or anything.
So please explain why it's justified that I yet again have to do a long costly detour because of a lack of bother in setting appropriate advance signage that is effortless to resolve?
If I'm honest, I feel this was done with deliberate intent.
I have raised this issue a number of times before such as for the M5 J19 for example clearly to no avail to resolve this so I can plan advanced alternative less costly detours than what I was forced to do because of this so please can this be sorted urgently so it doesn't ever happen again. Thank you
Updates
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Thank you for your report concerning the signage on the M49 and M5.
The diversion is very short to Portway roundabout and back onto the M5 South and was well signed as per the attached.
We had considered signing on the M4 E/B over the Prince of Wales Bridge to advise the closure.
However the signing for this would have required quite a bit of description and may have led to some confusion. If you had chosen to divert up to Almondsbury I/C and back down the M5 to Avonmouth based on the above you would then have faced the lane closure and possible additional delay as opposed to using the signed diversion route. Advanced warning on the M49 will be considered in future planning when we implement this closure to let road users know what to expect when you reach J18/18A We will continue to monitor this and will arrange any work if the situation changes. If you require any further update on this issue our Customer Contact Centre is available 24 hours a day at:
• 0300 123 5000
• info@highwaysengland.co.uk
Kind regards
National Highways
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