A government minister has promised to question whether emergency services can do more to reduce prolonged motorway closures, after warnings that repeated M5 shutdowns are leaving entire communities gridlocked.
Transport minister Justin Madders made the commitment during a Westminster Hall debate on Tuesday, November 10, secured by Conservative Bridgwater MP Sir Ashley Fox.
Sir Ashley said the motorway was an indispensable route for communities, tourism and goods throughout the South West, but that closures in Somerset were becoming more frequent and lasting longer.
He told MPs that data from January 2025 to August 2026 recorded 24 full closures between junctions 20 and 25, including four in June 2026 alone.
He also cited figures showing that traffic on the northbound M5 between junctions 23 and 24 had travelled below 30mph for at least an hour on 42 days in 2023, 45 days in 2024 and 47 days in 2025.
Sir Ashley warned that when the M5 is shut between junctions 22 and 24, traffic is diverted onto the A38 through Highbridge, Bridgwater and North Petherton, overwhelming roads which were not built to cope with motorway volumes.
He said: “What begins as an instance affecting one stretch of motorway rapidly escalates into a problem affecting entire towns and villages. Traffic backs up every minor road, causing gridlock.”
The MP read out a letter from a constituent, Ms Halliday, who had given permission for her experience to be shared. She described being stuck in her car for three hours and the difficulties long delays caused her and her disabled son.
Her letter said: “The last time the motorway was shut, I was stuck for 3 hours in the car.” It also described a school transport delay, ending: “Update, my son returned home over 2 hours late tonight.”
Sir Ashley called for a more locally tailored approach to traffic management and asked whether strategically placed gated crossover points in motorway central reservations could allow controlled contraflow during major incidents, rather than diverting vehicles through towns.
He stressed that public safety must come first and said the proposal would not remove the need for emergency services to respond appropriately to serious incidents.
Mr Madders said he would write to Sir Ashley about the central-reservation proposal, adding that safety considerations would need to be taken into account.
Addressing closures after serious incidents, including incidents involving people in crisis, the minister said the decision on when a motorway could safely reopen rested with the emergency services, usually the police.
He added: “I commit to writing to ask the Home Office to talk to the relevant services about whether there is anything different they can do.”
Mr Madders said National Highways regularly met senior roads policing officers from Avon and Somerset Police to review incidents and that further meetings were planned to explore whether the impact of closures could be reduced.
He also pointed to efforts to limit disruption during drainage and central-reservation barrier works between junctions 22 and 24 by using overnight closures and lane restrictions rather than closing the motorway throughout the day.
The minister said the Government's road investment strategy included £8.4 billion for renewal work over five years. National Highways had been set targets to keep 97.5 per cent of the network free of roadworks-related traffic restrictions and clear at least 88 per cent of motorway incidents within one hour.
A customer and delay action plan is expected before the end of March 2027, with the Office of Rail and Road monitoring progress.
Mr Madders also said work to provide access to a new gigafactory at junction 22A would bring further disruption, and that he would ask National Highways to minimise its impact.
He said: “We cannot remove disruption and delay entirely, but we all want to be clear and confident that National Highways has done absolutely everything it can to minimise that.”
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