M4 closed this weekend ... why not use the train into London?

[whole diary]

[grahame]

From the Wiltshire Times

Wiltshire motorists heading towards London and back again this weekend can expect road chaos as part of the M4 is to be closed.

The motorway will be closed in both directions between junctions 6 and 8/9 in Berkshire while a bridge is demolished.

That stretch near Maidenhead will be shut from 8pm on Friday, July 17 until 6am on Monday, July 20.

A spokesman said: "The new Monkey Island Lane bridge at Bray opened to the public last weekend, clearing the way for the removal of the old structure.

"During the closure traffic will be diverted to A308M, A308 and the A355 but drivers are being asked to plan their journeys and to consider other routes."

Another excellent route into London might be by train!

[Sixty3Closure]

Brief moment of panic there for me as using the M4 this weekend but going the other direction.

Its all relative but trying to find about M4 closures is far harder than rail closures as we found out with unexpected one hour diversion through Hungerford two weekends ago.

[grahame]

"Let the train take the strain"

"Who do I claim delay / repay from if I get caught up in the traffic jam"?

From Wiltshire 999S

The M4 has been closed eastbound due to a serious road traffic collision.

Emergency services are at the scene between Newbury (J13) and Reading (J12).

The road isn’t expected to reopen until after this evening’s rush hour.

Wiltshire motorists heading towards London and back again this weekend can expect road chaos as part of the M4 is to be closed.

That stretch near Maidenhead will be shut from 8pm on Friday, July 17 until 6am on Monday, July 20.

[bobm]

The M4 is also closed tonight from 10 o'clock until 6am tomorrow (or until the planned work is finished) between the Swindon junctions (15 and 16) as engineers continue tunnelling under the road to build the Southern Access for the Wichelstowe development.

[Sixty3Closure]

Another closure that must have been planned but I've seen no mention of when checking over the last week.

Part of the problem is trying to find current information. I recently read an interesting article about how the internet and the search engines make old events easy to find but not current ones. In this instance it was a village fate or similar and they could find all the information for previous years but not the one happening imminently.

Guess we'll set off and hope....

[MVR S&T]

Google maps, both web site and app, show realtime traffic speeds.

E.g: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Christchurch/@50.7568262,-1.7122992,18z/data=!4m5!3m4!1s0x48739852a2137741:0x7537818f47e6aad9!8m2!3d50.735777!4d-1.778586!5m1!1e1

[ellendune]

The M4 is also closed tonight from 10 o'clock until 6am tomorrow (or until the planned work is finished) between the Swindon junctions (15 and 16) as engineers continue tunnelling under the road to build the Southern Access for the Wichelstowe development.

Actually no. They are not tunneling under the M4.

They have moved the M4 to one side and are constructing a bridge under one side.  In simple terms they will then move the traffic onto the new bridge to do the other half. Bit more complicated than that but that is the essence. 

[eightf48544]

It seems to be closed for several weekends around Slough AMidenehaed in the near future.

Add the boot sale at Taplow  and you can see the problem.

[TaplowGreen]

It seems to be closed for several weekends around Slough AMidenehaed in the near future.

Add the boot sale at Taplow  and you can see the problem.

It's been pretty well publicised around here, makes the A4 rather cosy.

The boot sale at Taplow is a problem full stop! 

[Electric train]

The M4 closures over the last few months have not caused as much congestion as they did at the end of 2019.  There is still less people moving around although that situation is changing