National Highways bridging the gap for pedestrians

National Highways will start work next month to demolish and rebuild two public rights of way for pedestrians over the M5 near Gloucester.

The Grove Court and Uphill Court bridges, between junctions 11 and 12 of the M5, have served as pedestrian footpaths for the past 64 years but have deteriorated beyond repair and are now in need of replacing.

The bridges were closed for safety reasons in March and both structures will be demolished over the weekend of 16-19 October, with new, modern standard bridges being constructed in their place.

Caption: The Grove Court footbridge spanning the M5 and, below, a close-up of the deteriorated edge beams

The two bridges, both 69 metres in length, will be dismantled by high-reach excavators over the weekend, with 440 tonnes of concrete and 14 tonnes of steel tendons removed from the carriageway before the road reopens for Monday morning commuter traffic.

National Highways Route Manager Ewan Greenhill said: “Like many of our motorways and structures, the bridges have exceeded their structural lifespan, and replacing them will ensure the safety of road users and keep people and goods moving safely.

“Both bridges are public rights of way, and we’re working closely with Gloucestershire County Council and others in terms of the replacement plans.

“In the meantime, we appreciate the weekend closure will have impacts for the travelling public, we thank people in advance for their patience and our advice to drivers is to plan ahead, consider alternative routes and allow extra time for their journeys.”

Caption: The crumbling edge beams of the Uphill Court footbridge, with the M5 carriageway and verge below

To create a construction compound, the Junction 11A northbound exit slip road will be closed for a week from Sunday, 11 October, ahead of the weekend demolition, and for a week following.

And to enable the demolition work, the M5 will be fully closed between junction 11 (Cheltenham) and junction 12 (Gloucester) from 11pm on Friday, 16 October until 6am on Monday, 19 October.

The weekend diversion routes have been carefully planned to lessen conflict with the A40 bridge works at Over, and a later Friday closure of 11pm has been arranged to allow for Gloucester Rugby’s European Champions Cup match with Bordeaux-Begles.

Over the weekend, southbound and northbound traffic will be diverted via the A38 through Gloucester, the A40 Cheltenham to Gloucester road and the A417, as per the diagram below.

In addition to the A40 Over Bridge work, National Highways is advising drivers to be aware of ongoing work taking place on the A417 as part of the major Missing Link scheme and further south near Bristol a bridge deck refurbishment scheme between junctions 15 and 16 at the Almondsbury Interchange.

Ahead of the October weekend closure, further scheme information and diversion route details can be found on the scheme web page, with information on the other ongoing schemes available on the company website.

And over the weekend, people can gain up-to-the-minute updates on National Highways’ travel alerts web page.