A NEW bridge over the M4 for traffic travelling between Downend and Yate is now open.
The £20 million bridge carrying the A432 Badminton Road opened to pedestrians and cyclists on June 19 and to vehicles the following day – almost three years after the old one closed to motor traffic on safety grounds.
The new bridge, next to the Wick Wick roundabout junction with the Avon Ring Road, is 4m wider than its predecessor – the extra width accommodates widened pavements for pedestrians and cyclists on either side of the road.
Road lanes on the bridge have been reorganised: now traffic heading towards the A4174 from Coalpit Heath and Yate has two lanes approaching the roundabout, while traffic heading from the roundabout on to the bridge is restricted to a single lane.
The old bridge had the opposite arrangement, and there were often long queues approaching it from the north.
A new pedestrian crossing has been installed north of the Cuckoo Lane junction on the way to Winterbourne.
The old bridge, built in 1966, carried 16,000 vehicles a day but was closed suddenly in July 2023 when a routine inspection discovered “accelerated deterioration and cracking” in the concrete.
The closure meant South Gloucestershire Council had to set up diversions for traffic between Bristol and Yate using country lanes, which are now in the process of being removed.
National Highways, which manages the bridge as part of the motorway network, started work on a replacement, which involved not just designing a new bridge from scratch but coordinating the re-routing of utilities – water and gas mains, electricity and fibre optic cables – that had gone through the old bridge.
Three weekend closures of the M4 were organised – one in October 2024 to dig trenches for the new utility connections, one in March last year to demolish the bridge and one in October to put in place the new steel beams for the replacement bridge, which is designed to last 120 years, with no moving parts such as bearings and joints that need to be replaced.
National Highways route manager Sean Walsh said: “From a difficult starting point – having to immediately close and then take the decision to demolish the old bridge for safety reasons – the project has been a positive example of inter-agency working, delivering the bridge in around half the time it world normally take.
“We would like to thank everyone in South Gloucestershire, especially those communities most affected, for their patience and support throughout the build.”
During the opening weekend pedestrians and cyclists tried out the new paths, while some drivers could be seen approaching from the north, driving around the roundabout and heading back again.