Residents and businesses are being reminded that essential maintenance and improvement work at Bromley Heath Viaduct on the A4174 ring road begins at 6am on Monday 24 July. In addition, a section of the ring road will be fully closed from Saturday 22 July to put the traffic management in place and prepare the contraflow which will be in use from next Monday.
Work on the Bromley Heath Viaduct, which was originally built in the 1960s, was approved by South Gloucestershire councillors earlier this year. Originally scheduled to last for up to 52 weeks, this has been reduced to 33 weeks after we successfully secured funding from the Local Enterprise Partnership Economic Development Fund (EDF)*.
The extent of the work requires a section of the southern dual carriageway to be closed to all traffic for the duration of the project. This is because the removal of the worn out parts of the structure will mean that it is too weak to safely carry any traffic until the maintenance is complete. A contraflow will be in operation reducing the current two lanes in both directions down to one lane in each direction.
The A4174 ring road will be closed in both directions from the Wick Wick roundabout (at the junction with the A432 Badminton Road) to Hambrook lights from 8pm on Saturday 22 July until 6am on Monday 24 July when the ring road will reopen with the contraflow in place over the viaduct.
These closures are to allow for the traffic management to be put in place. We apologise for the inconvenience caused.
To help alleviate traffic queuing on local roads, traffic management will also be in operation from 6am on Monday 24 July. This includes closures to some local roads, plus adjustments to traffic lights and road signs in the surrounding area. Traffic heading to the M4 motorway will also be directed east to junction 19 of the M4 rather than using junction 18. Signs are in place to alert drivers.
Cllr Colin Hunt, Cabinet Member responsible for transport, said: “We know this is one of the busiest sections of the A4174 and the work is expected to cause significant delays, especially during peak times. We are doing everything we can to mitigate this, including securing additional funding to reduce the overall timescale of the work.
“And I would encourage people to use alternative routes or take public transport wherever possible. For people travelling by road, the advice is to allow twice as long for your journey. We understand that this will cause disruption and disturbance to residents, communities and businesses alike and would like to apologise in advance and kindly ask for your patience while this essential maintenance work is taking place.
“Our staff will monitor junctions, traffic lights and yellow junction boxes when the contraflow goes into operation to see if any further improvements can be made to aid traffic flow and ease congestion.”
People are encouraged to look at changing their travel plans during the work to help ease congestion. Cycling, walking, car sharing and public transport is encouraged. To help during the work there will be extra buses on the number 18 during peak travel times and a park and ride facility will operate at Lyde Green, in Emersons Green for people to park and car share, park and cycle or park and take a bus.
Head of StreetCare and Transport Mark King explains the work involved…
Full background on the viaduct scheme is available online www.southglos.gov.uk/bhviaduct
