Part of a main road just after the Prince of Wales bridge remains closed after a tipper truck hit an overhead gantry. The M5 has been shut near Cribbs Causeway since the accident at around 8.40am on Thursday (March 2).
Photographs from the scene show the tipper truck wedged vertically between the gantry and the motorway. For several hours the carriageway on both sides was shut between junction 17 Cribbs Causeway and junction 18 the M49 that leads to the Seven crossing.
National Highways confirmed that the collision involved a tipper truck colliding with an overhead gantry.
The closure caused long delays on the motorway and surrounding routes throughout the morning. This was later exacerbated by a multi-vehicle crash on the M4 Prince of Wales Bridge at around 4pm. Emergency services attended the scene, including an air ambulance. The incidents caused "severe delays" on the M4 in Wales as well as parts of Bristol.
Ray Morwood, South West Operations Manager for National Highways, told BristolLive: "The M5 has been closed to protect the travelling public and we’re working as quickly as we can to assess the gantry damage and make safe the signage and fittings.
"The incident has occurred on a busy section of the M5, we are working with our police partners, and we appreciate this will cause significant delays to people’s journeys.
"In the meantime, we advise people to add a little extra time for their journeys, and to consider alternative routes where they can. We thank all drivers for their co-operation and patience and we’re working quickly to establish timescales for repair and recovery work."
Traffic Wales warned on Thursday afternoon that there were delays on many of the routes on the other side of the Prince of Wales bridge. Part of the M5 reopened at around 5.30pm, according to Inrix. It stated: "Northbound has now re opened but southbound remains closed as the road requires resurfacing from the spillage. Diversion - via the M4 which is struggling and the M49."
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