£100m M5 project begins next phase

Drivers using the M5 face more disruption as the next phase of work on Britain’s biggest concrete repair project gets underway.

Work on one carriageway of the Oldbury Viaduct, between junctions 1 and 2, is nearing completion, and from today the entire operation to repair the road will transfer from the southbound to the northbound carriageway.

The switching process will last around a week and to minimise disruption will take place gradually overnight to help ensure traffic can keep flowing during the day.

Two lanes will remain open in each direction during the switch although Highways England said motorists should leave extra time for their journeys in order to familiarise themselves with the new road layout.

Highways England’s head of service delivery, Andrew Butterfield, said: “I appreciate it’s not been straightforward getting to this stage. We were only able to fully assess the condition of the southbound carriageway once the work had started and found around 6,000 individual repairs were needed, which is 4,500 more than anticipated. To add to the challenges, we had one of the harshest winters, followed by warmest summers in years.

“As a result, work on this section has taken longer than expected, but we’re committing every resource available to get this work done as safely and quickly as possible.”

The £100m project has been described as Europe’s largest scaffolding project, with more than 400 hundred miles of scaffolding erected.