THE M5 is set to close overnight in the coming weeks to allow for barrier replacement work – but is avoiding carnival nights in Bridgwater, Burnham and Weston-super-Mare.

National Highways said the work is necessary as the wire rope central reservation barrier along a section of the motorway between Burnham-on-Sea and Bridgwater has reached its end of life.

It will be replaced with new steel beam barriers through the autumn and winter as part of a £1.1 million scheme.
Drainage repairs will also be carried out during the barrier renewal scheme, with work starting on Sunday (November 2), when the northbound M5 will be closed between 8pm and 6am between junctions 24 (Bridgwater) and 22 (Burnham/Weston).

That will be followed by further weeknight northbound and southbound closures on November 4, 5 and 6, and a Sunday overnight southbound closure on November 9.

The overnight closures have been planned to avoid the Burnham and Weston-super-Mare carnival dates, and during the night closures, traffic will be diverted via the A38 to rejoin the M5 both northbound and southbound.

National Highways route manager, Jonathan Hill, said: “We appreciate road users will be seeing a lot of roadworks through the autumn and winter but our current work along the M5 represents a significant investment.

“This investment will ultimately bring benefits in terms of safety and wet weather resilience, smoother journeys for motorists and reduce the requirement for unplanned closures.

“We’re undertaking the work at this time of year and overnight, when traffic volumes are at their lowest, we’ve worked closely with partners to minimise disruption – carefully avoiding dates in Somerset’s carnival calendar – and we thank people for their patience while we carry out this essential work.”

The barrier renewal and drainage scheme is set to be finished on December 19 and during the work, two lanes will be running in both directions.