M4 ‘smart motorway’ work confirmed ON TOP of planned closures

Work to install safety areas on the M4 south of Reading will take place from May 7, Wokingham Borough Council has confirmed.

National Highways plans to close lanes between junction 10 at Wokingham and junction 12 at Theale to install the safety areas. This is on top of other planned closures relating to bridge safety repairs.

An email newsletter from Wokingham Borough Council to residents said: “National Highways are carrying out a retrofit to add more than 150 more emergency areas to motorways across the country.

“Works are due to start on the M4 between junctions 10 (Wokingham) and 12 (Theale) from May 7, 2024.”

As part of the work, the left lane on each carriageway of the four lane motorways will be closed. The other three lanes will be open with 50 miles per hour speed limits.

The dates were detailed in a letter to ‘stakeholders’ on April 15 – although a National Highways spokesperson did not want to confirm them at the time.

The confirmation from the council comes after National Highways also announced a series of full closures of the Westbound carriageway between junction 11 and junction 12 to repair the bridge at Burghfield.

These are scheduled for the weekends of April 27-29 and May 17-20. There will also be overnight closures between April 29-30, May 1-16, 20-23 and 28-31.