National Highways is advising drivers to plan their journeys ahead of a full closure of the M4 in Wiltshire this afternoon.
Following yesterday evening’s serious single car incident the westbound M4 was closed overnight between junctions 16 (Swindon West) and 17 (Chippenham) for police investigation work.
Two lanes closed this morning have led to continuing delays and a full closure of both westbound and eastbound carriageways will be in place this afternoon to enable Wiltshire Police to remove the vehicle from an embankment.
A specialist crane is required to recover the vehicle as part of ongoing investigative work, and the full closures – westbound from 1pm and eastbound from 1.30pm – are anticipated to impact the afternoon peak and create increased traffic on the local diversion routes.
Westbound traffic will be diverted at junction 16 and routed via the A3102, B4042 and A429 to rejoin the motorway at junction 17, while vehicles over 4.2 metres in height will be diverted via the A3102, A4 and A350. The eastbound diversions will operate in reverse.
Ahead of the full closure, National Highways is urging drivers to consider their journeys, and to plan ahead and allow extra time.
Up-to-date travel information is available from National Highways by visiting www.trafficengland.com and X updates are also available at @HighwaysSWEST. For urgent real-time assistance, the company’s 24/7 contact centre team is able to provide up-to-the minute information on 0300 123 5000.
