Weekend of disruption across the West as slow-moving convoy leaves Avonmouth and crash closes Wiltshire A-road
Police warnings over a six-hour-plus abnormal load journeying from Bristol's Avonmouth to Wiltshire landed alongside reports of a crash blocking a Wiltshire A-road, a burst water main and a balloon festival — painting a picture of a region under simultaneous travel and utility strain.
Drivers in the West faced a weekend of overlapping disruption, as a slow-moving abnormal load travelled from Bristol's Avonmouth docks towards Wiltshire at the same time as a crash blocked a major Wiltshire A-road.
BBC Bristol and BBC News Wiltshire reported that police said the abnormal load would take more than six hours to transport from Avonmouth to Wiltshire, prompting a travel warning from the forces involved [1][2]. Separately, the Wiltshire Times reported that drivers were warned of delays after a crash on a Wiltshire A-road [4].
The road problems coincided with a utility emergency elsewhere in the county: the Wiltshire Times reported that hundreds of households and businesses were left without water after a burst pipe, forcing some businesses to close [3].
Not all weekend activity was disruptive — the Wiltshire Times also reported that dozens of hot air balloons took to the skies over Wiltshire as a popular festival got underway, an event likely to have added its own traffic to the same road network [5].
Sources
- BBC Bristol: Warning as abnormal load hits West motorways
- BBC News Wiltshire: Warning as abnormal load hits West motorways
- Wiltshire Times: LIVE: Businesses forced to close and residents without water as pipe bursts
- Wiltshire Times: Traffic warning as 'crash' blocks major A-road
- Wiltshire Times: Spectacular scenes as hot air balloons launch for popular event
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