DRIVERS face disruption when part of the A40 near Cheltenham is closed at night.
It will happen between 8pm and 6am for 17 days from August 20, on the bridge that crosses junction 11 of the M5. A small part of the road just before and after the bridge will also be closed.
The Highways Agency said routine work would be carried out on the joints of the bridge and on resurfacing and marking the road.
The westbound carriageway of the road will be closed, meaning vehicles travelling from Cheltenham will be diverted on to the motorway roundabout in order to rejoin the A40, heading towards Gloucester.
Northbound traffic coming off the M5 to go to Cheltenham will have to go down the Golden Valley Bypass to get to the Elmbridge Court roundabout, in order to come back along the A40 to reach Cheltenham.
Highways Agency spokesman Wailim Wong said: "The work is routine and we've clustered several pieces of work together such as resurfacing and lining, so we can minimise the number of times the bridge will be closed. The work is scheduled to take 17 days but it's worth remembering it will all take place overnight to keep traffic disruption to a minimum."
Roger Marchant is managing director of Marchant's Coaches in Cheltenham and also speaks for the town's Chamber of Commerce on transport issues.
He said he had some concerns about the plans but realised that August was probably as good a time for the work to be done as any.
"If it's got to be done, it's got to be done. There's no good time for something like this and a lot of people are away on holiday in August. Inevitably, it will still cause some delay and upheaval," he said.
He added that some of his coaches would be using the A40 and M5 after 8pm, coming back from summer excursions and they could be inconvenienced by the diversion.
But he said that as long as warning signs were put in place in good time, the situation for motorists should not be too bad.
Cheltenham MP Martin Horwood said: "It does sound like routine maintenance. If they have to do it, they have to do it.
"I guess it's reassuring that they're taking a proactive approach to maintenance and repair but I do hope they can keep to a minimum the amount of disruption at what is a key junction."
OPINION, P8
