Weston & Worle News

Published in Call for action at junction on Thu 22nd Sep 2005

Commuters didn't get the best start to the week on Monday morning after a motorway crash left rush hour traffic at a standstill. An accident happened at 6.45am involving a 4x4 on the northbound M5, between the Clevedon and Weston junctions, blocking two lanes.

A spokesman for the police said the driver suffered minor injuries.

The road was fully reopened at 8.34am, but the accident left thousands of drivers with lengthy journeys to work.

Carol Richards, aged 58, of Elborough Village, Weston, took two-and-a -half hours to get to her job as personal assistant in Bristol.

She said: "I left at my usual time which is 7.30am to get to work before 9am but didn't get in until 10am.

"It took me nearly two hours to get on to the motorway - the traffic was at a standstill. But when I got on the motorway there was nothing to be seen, just a load of cars which had broken down.

"It was absolute chaos and I had a headache and backache when I eventually made it into work."

North Somerset councillor Mike Bell was also stuck in the traffic on his way to work.

He said: "It reinforces the urgent need to improve motorway access at junction 21, to provide realistic public transport alternatives, and to give drivers information on what is happening.

"I really felt for the motorists stuck queuing to get out of Weston, most of whom will have had no idea of the delays in front of them.

"We keep hearing talk of 'improvements' to junction 21 but we all know that what we need is a new additional junction altogether.

"So much traffic comes in and out of Weston every day - both commuters and holidaymakers - and the present situation is a disgrace."