Gate to ease congestion is being installed on the M4

The gate –which will be installed in the central reservation of the motorway between junctions 14 (Hung-erford) and 15 (Swindon) – can be opened by the Highways Agency or the emergency services to allow drivers stuck behind the scene of an incident to turn around onto the opposite carriageway.
Work started on Wednesday and it is expected to be complete by the end of the month.
Similar gates, which cost about £130,000 to install, are already in use elsewhere on the motorway network. When the gates are not in use, they form a part of the normal safety barrier.
Highways Agency project manager, Rob MacKenzie, said: “The distance between junctions 14 and 15 is around 12 miles, which means that, if an incident closes the road, a lot of drivers can become stuck on the motorway.
“This gate will allow the Highways Agency and emergency services to direct these drivers on to the opposite carriageway, where they can return to the previous junction and pick up the diversion route.
“This is part of our commitment to making sure that the M4, which is a vital national artery, is as resilient as possible.”
As of Wednesday, the hard shoulder on the eastbound M4 will be closed while the work gets under way.
Then, from Monday, there will be narrow lanes and a 50mph speed limit on a 1.6-mile section of the road in both directions, past the work site, which is just to the east of junction 15.
Weather permitting, the work will be completed by Tuesday, January 29.