CONCERNS have been raised about an increase in congestion on the M48 motorway around Chepstow because of the maintenance work on the M48 Severn Bridge.

Lane one eastbound on the bridge has been closed since 14th of March, which is said to have added to traffic woes at peak times, with reports of a four-mile tailback last Friday (9th April) evening.

Lane one eastbound will re-open on Friday 2nd September, but with lane one westbound scheduled to be closed from 16th May until 17th October, there are concerns that the loss of two lanes in the overlapping months of closure will worsen the traffic problem on both the M48 and M4.

The M48 Severn Bridge will be fully closed this weekend, from 7am on Saturday 16th until 10pm on Sunday 17th April, so that workers can perform the next stage of vital works to inspect the suspension cables.

But further concerns have been raised about the date of the last scheduled weekend of full bridge closure, as the closure on the 23rd and 24th July coincides with the first weekend of the summer holidays.