Drivers on the M4 in Bristol have been stuck in queues of up to an hour and 20 minutes long following a multi-vehicle collision this morning. The crash happened at just before 11am this morning, Easter Monday, April 10.
The collision occurred on the eastbound side of the M4 in Bradley Stoke, about halfway between junction 20 for the M5 Almondsbury interchange and junction 19 for the M32 interchange. Police and ambulance crews raced to the scene and Highways England officers closed down all three lanes of the motorway, but allowed motorists to use the hard-shoulder to get past the scene.
There is no word yet on casualties, but Highways England later announced they were beginning to clear the carriageway, which indicates that the injuries were not fatal or serious enough to necessitate a full closure of the motorway to allow collision investigators to begin a forensic examination of the scene.
Updates: Latest on the M4 crash
At the height of the queues, the back end of the traffic jam almost reached the Prince of Wales Bridge, and Google traffic sensors indicated that the queue was seven miles long and was taking motorists at least one hour and 20 minutes to reach the front.
There were also lengthy queues of traffic building on the westbound side, of around four miles, as motorists travelling in the other direction slowed to see the scene on the opposite carriageway. Those queues went from the scene in Bradley Stoke all the way back past the M32 junction.
At around 12.20pm, National Highways tweeted that all lanes had reopened. However, long delays remained at the scene, although traffic was easing.
According to Google Traffic, delays were around 40 minutes long shortly after the lanes reopened.
The bumper Easter Holiday traffic built up quickly on the M5 too, with tailbacks in both the north and south directions approaching the Almondsbury interchange.
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