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The central reservation on the M5 was damaged in a crash today (December 26) which caused delays to Boxing Day traffic travelling across Somerset and Devon.
The crash, which happened at around 2.43pm between junctions 25 at Taunton and 26 at Wellington, was on the southbound carriageway and involved one vehicle, according to National Highways.
The northbound carriageway was held temporarily to allow debris to be cleared, and one lane was closed on the southbound carriageway to allow for both recovery to be completed, and repairs to be carried out.
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Traffic was held temporarily for 30 minutes to allow emergency services to conduct the necessary operations such as the safe closure of lane three on the southbound carriageway and clearing of debris across the M5.
As a result travel time was reduced to a peak of 20 minutes on Boxing Day afternoon.
National Highways have not given a timeframe for the completion of repairs to be completed on the central reservation.
A spokesperson for National Highways said: “We received reports at around 2.43pm today (December 26) of a one vehicle RTC on the M5 southbound carriageway between Taunton and Wellington.
“We were holding traffic on the northbound carriageway whilst clearing debris as the vehicle collided with central reservation.
“This has now been released but one lane has been closed on the southbound carriageway. Lane three is closed but lanes one two are open as normal.
“Recovery for the vehicle is underway but lane three will be closed after the vehicle is recovered so that repairs can be completed on the central reservation which has sustained damage.
“There is no estimated time of completion for repairing the central reservation yet.”
All lanes were reported as having been reopened on the M5 at around 4.42pm this afternoon.
The last update from Inrix said: “Slow traffic due to earlier accident on M5 Southbound from J25 A358 (Taunton) to J26 A38 (Wellington).
“All lanes have been re-opened. Held from around 1455 for 30 minutes.”
It is unclear if any injuries were sustained in the crash. The South Western Ambulance Service (SWASFT) has been contacted for comment
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