National Highways will start work in October to demolish two public rights of way for pedestrians over the M5 near Gloucester.

The Grove Court and Uphill Court bridges, between junctions 11 and 12 of the M5, have served as pedestrian footpaths for the past 64 years but have deteriorated beyond repair and are now in need of replacing. The bridges were closed in March and both structures will be demolished over the weekend of 16-19 October, with new, modern standard bridges being constructed in their place in future years.

To create a construction compound, the Junction 11A northbound exit slip road will be closed for a week from Sunday, 11 October, ahead of the weekend demolition, and for a week following.

To enable the demolition work, the M5 will be fully closed between junction 11 (Cheltenham) and junction 12 (Gloucester) from 11pm on Friday, 16 October until 6am on Monday, 19 October.

The weekend diversion routes have been carefully planned to lessen conflict with the A40 bridge works at Over, and a later Friday closure of 11pm has been arranged to allow for Gloucester Rugby’s European Champions Cup match with Bordeaux-Begles.

Over the weekend, southbound and northbound traffic will be diverted via the A38 through Gloucester, the A40 Cheltenham to Gloucester Road and the A417.

Ahead of the October weekend closure, further scheme information and diversion route details can be found on the scheme web page, with information on the other ongoing schemes available on the company website.

And over the weekend, people can gain up-to-the-minute updates on National Highways’ travel alerts web page.