M5 roadworks: Vow to ease disruption over major 18-month scheme
Highways bosses have said they will do 'everything possible' to reduce trouble for motorists during 18 months of roadworks.
Major work to repair a viaduct on the M5, which will see the speed limit cut to 30mph on one stretch, starts this month and last until the end of 2018.
Highways England has said the £100 million work to replace waterproofing on the crumbling Oldbury viaduct between Junction 1 for West Bromwich and Junction 2 for Oldbury is essential.
Initially, traffic travelling between the junctions will experience narrow lanes and a 40mph speed limit, but in the early summer speeds will drop to 30mph for safety reasons as a contraflow is introduced, while slip roads will be kept open.
Bosses have updated motorists on early progress, with a statement on the Highways England website reading: "We have started preparatory work for a major concrete repair and waterproofing scheme on the M5 Oldbury viaduct, between junctions one and two, in advance of the main scheme.
"We are carrying out this work using overnight lane closures and weekend overnight full closures of both the slip roads and the main carriageway.
"We will begin the main scheme by removing the surface on the southbound carriageway to investigate the condition of the concrete underneath.
"We have designed this traffic management to maintain access to the M5 and thereby limit the resulting congestion on the local roads. We will do everything possible to keep traffic moving."
