National Highways is advising drivers that the closure of the M4 in Wiltshire will now be later than originally planned today. Following yesterday evening’s serious single car incident the westbound M4 was closed overnight between junctions 16 (Swindon West) and 17 (Chippenham) for police investigation work.
Full closures of the westbound and eastbound carriageways were due to be in place, from 1pm and 1.30pm respectively, to enable Wiltshire Police to remove the vehicle from an embankment.
The recovery operation, utilising a specialist crane, will now take place later this afternoon, and exact timings of the full motorway closure will now be updated via www.trafficengland.com and X updates available at @HighwaysSWEST.
Once confirmed, the closures are anticipated to impact afternoon and evening traffic flows, along with increased traffic on the local diversion routes.
Westbound traffic will be diverted at junction 16 and routed via the A3102, B4042 and A429 to rejoin the motorway at junction 17, while vehicles over 4.2 metres in height will be diverted via the A3102, A4 and A350. The eastbound diversions will operate in reverse.
Ahead of the full closure, National Highways is advising drivers to plan ahead and allow extra time.
