TRAFFIC lights have been installed at a junction which has seen a surge in traffic since the closure of a bridge over the M4.
The bridge that usually carries thousands of cars a day over the motorway on the A432 Badminton Road, between Downend and Yate, was closed in July after “structural failures” were found.
August’s Voice reported that the bridge, north of the Wick Wick roundabout near the Willy Wicket pub, was expected to remain closed to motor traffic until December at the earliest as experts from National Highways, which is responsible for the structure, carry out further tests.
After reports of road rage and congestion on small lanes near the diversion route, South Gloucestershire Council temporarily closed Coalsack Lane, Ruffet Road and Cooks Lane near the Kendleshire golf course, to through traffic.
It also installed temporary traffic lights at the crossroads between Henfield Road and Westerleigh Road, which have seen an increase in traffic heading to and from Coalpit Heath, Frampton Cotterell and Yate. Regular traffic lights were being installed at the site in August and are due to go live from September 4.
The council said: “These restrictions will remain in place for the foreseeable future but there are no plans to make them permanent.”
The authority said the news traffic lights will be removed when the A432 reopens.
Motorists are being advised to use the official diversion, which takes traffic on a loop along Westerleigh Road to the A46 and A420 into Chipping Sodbury from the East, but this adds more than eight miles to journeys between Downend and Yate.
A National Highways spokesperson said work to inspect the underside of the bridge had now been finished and its inspectors were now working on the topside.
Pedestrians and cyclists can still use the bridge and the roads that have been closed near Kendleshire.