The Orwell Bridge is expected to close for the third time this winter as high winds are forecast again on Thursday morning.
The closure of the Orwell Bridge is likely to bring more traffic into Ipswich town centre. Picture: SARAH LUCY BROWN
The Met Office is predicting high winds of more than 50mph during the night through to Thursday lunchtime.
That has prompted Highways England to announce that the bridge is likely to shut at about midnight on Wednesday/Thursday – and that it will remain closed until the winds dropped. That almost certainly means it will be shut during the Thursday morning rush-hour.
The warning says high winds are expected to continue until 1pm on Thursday – although the re-opening of the bridge will depend on the speed of the wind on the structure.
It will be the third time this winter that the bridge has been closed because of high winds and the second time this year – it was closed on November 22 and on January 2.
Traffic on the Orwell Bridge. Stock image. Picture: ARCHANT
The A14 will be closed between the Copdock Mill and the Seven Hills interchanges. Traffic will not be able to drive along the A14 to the Wherstead Road junction or the Nacton Road junction.
A spokesman for Highways England confirmed the bridge would be completely shut to all traffic – he said it was not possible to only close it to lorries or high-sided vehicles.
He said: “We tried to do that at the Forth Bridge near Edinburgh, but that could only be advisory and a lorry driver decided to go over anyway and was blown over shutting the bridge for 80 hours.”
However the closure is set to hit the local economy hard. This month’s closure cost the Ipswich economy an estimated £1m according to Ipswich Central chairman Terry Baxter.
Ipswich central chairman Terry Baxter said the impact the bridge closure had on businesses was "unacceptable". Picture: LUCY TAYLOR
After the last closure he said: “Our early estimates suggest that the decisions taken by Highways East will have cost our businesses over £1 million in lost revenue and disruption. That is totally unacceptable.
“I was involved in discussions with the highways authority nearly a year ago and was assured that any decision to close the bridge would be needed ‘once in a blue moon’ – instead, it has shut three times [in the last year].
“This cannot go on.”
The Agency is also preparing to introduce new protocols about when the bridge should be closed and when it might reopen – they are due to be published next month.
Suffolk PCC Tim Passmore repeats call for fewer closures
Suffolk Police and Crime Commissioner Tim Passmore was exasperated by the news that the Orwell Bridge is to close yet again because of high winds.
He accepted this was a safety issue – but said it showed the necessity for the authorities to work together to find alternative solutions to the problem.
He said: “We will have to put up with this, but there must be things that can be done – installing baffles on the bridge, bringing forward a northern by-pass, it is vital something is done.
“At least we know there are going to be problems. People can make arrangements. They can leave earlier for their journeys to work – some people can work from home.
“But this is not good enough because we know that when the bridge is closed it will have a serious impact. This is an issue that needs a national government response. I am pleased Chris Grayling mentioned it last week. It is not just a local issue – it is a national issue.”
Wherstead Road traffic problems ease
There was some good news for drivers in the south west of Ipswich as the roadworks which have caused major problems in Wherstead Road were completed three days early.
And planned overnight engineering work which would have shut off the Shotley peninsula from Ipswich between 7pm and 5am every night this week have been postponed.
The Wherstead Road gas main works were due to continue until Thursday, but the work was finished by Monday afternoon allowing the temporary traffic lights to be removed.
And night-time drivers heading to Shotley found the Strand remained open between Bourne Bridge and the Suffolk Food Hall despite overnight closures being announced to repair potholes in the road surface.
A Suffolk County Council spokesman said some of the equipment needed for the work was not available, so it had been delayed for a short time.
Please Share Update #A14 ##OrwellBridge #Ipswich it looks like will be closed from midnight tonight. It is expected to remain closed until tomorrow afternoon due to high winds keep following us for updates @sufnoftravel
Coming night as from 04h00 the wind will increase to high levels. Delays might occur due to suspension of our operations. The weather forecast shows that high windspeeds are to be expected until at least Thursday 14h00.
When delay occurs we will inform you accordingly.
Kind regards,
Marketing & Communications
APM Terminals Rotterdam
Nederland
Nederland
Due to the expected weather forecast, we decided to close our terminal as from tomorrow morning 06h00. Both our landside and waterside operations will be suspended. We expect to restart our operations again around 12h00.
We will keep you informed if there are any changes occur in terms of time.
Kind regards,
Marketing & Communications
APM Terminals Rotterdam
Nederland
Suffolk & Norfolk Travel Information
(PA Graphics)
Nederland
Suffolk & Norfolk Travel Information
⛔️ #OrwellBridge #A14 is Now Closed ⛔️ For safety reasons, due to high winds planned diversion route is via the A1156, A1189 and A1214 through Ipswich #StormFionn PLEASE Keep following for updates
Suffolk & Norfolk Travel Information
⛔️ #OrwellBridge #A14 is Now Closed ⛔️ For safety reasons, due to high winds planned diversion route is via the A1156, A1189 and A1214 through Ipswich #StormFionn PLEASE Keep following for updatesSuffolk & Norfolk Travel Information
People warned not to travel as weather warning upgraded
Police are warning people not to travel in areas covered by an upgraded severe weather warning after 200 motorists were left stranded. Heavy snow and ice caused treacherous driving conditions and brought the M74 in Scotland to a standstill. The Met Office has issued a fresh amber “be prepared” warning of heavy snow for southern Scotland and northern England on Wednesday into Thursday.
Dozens of schools have been closed in parts of Scotland, while public transport has been disrupted by the weather.
? Another AMBER SNOW warning issued from @metoffice[1] from 9pm TONIGHT (Wed 17th) until 5am TOMO (Thurs 18th) for SW Scotland, Lothian Borders, Strathclyde Not sure what an AMBER warning means?
Please watch our short video & #BePrepared@transcotland@policescotland pic.twitter.com/1Agp0EgYR5[2][3][4][5] — Traffic Scotland (@trafficscotland) January 17, 2018[6]
Scotland’s transport minister Humza Yousaf told MSPs at Holyrood that following a new Met Office amber warning for Wednesday evening, Police Scotland were upgrading their travel warning from stage three to a stage four. He said: “That in practice means that all travel should be avoided on those parts of the trunk road affected by the amber warning, namely south and south-west Scotland for the duration of the amber warning.”
Police Scotland closed parts of the M74 in Lanarkshire in both directions due to wintry conditions for a number of hours overnight. The road later reopened.
Watch the WALL ??…runaway truck!lucky nobody was injured!This could have been alot worse if it didn’t hit the wall! Posted by Niki Blackhall[7] on Monday, January 15, 2018
Elsewhere a runaway lorry slid down a snowy street then crashed into a fence on Tuesday morning in Glenmavis, North Lanarkshire.
Witness Niki Blackhall, who filmed the incident, said: “The men in the truck got out to help the crashed cars and the truck slid away. “It hit our wall. I’m just glad nobody was injured and the wall stopped the truck from sliding down the hill, as the outcome would have been a lot worse.”
Mountain rescue teams were drafted in to check on drivers on the M74 overnight, many of whom were stuck in their vehicles for several hours. Transport Minister Humza Yousaf has apologised to those stranded in their vehicles overnight.
This shows how difficult it was clearing snow during the night. Snow was falling as quick as snow plows could clear it.
Images take on #M74 near Moffat pic.twitter.com/OALHvDYxwG[8][9] — DGVost (@DGVost) January 17, 2018[10]
Sam Sykes, a surveyor from Biggar, South Lanarkshire, said he was stuck on the M74 for around 12 hours – from 6pm on Tuesday until around 5.30am on Wednesday. The 25-year-old was travelling from Dalry in Ayrshire to Biggar after work.
He said: “The length of time, the cold and the uncertainty of when it would start again was the worst part.” Mat Jackson, 29, a product manager with Siemens, arrived home in Manchester at around 11.30am on Wednesday – having left Glasgow at 3.20pm on Tuesday. He told the Press Association: “Every time gritters went by you thought ‘here we go’ but the snow just came down harder, it was that thick you couldn’t see in front of you.”
(PA Graphics)
Police declared a critical incident and said that more than 200 people were stranded.
A busy night!
Here’s a wee time-lapse video from our #Perth depot showing gritters from our NW & NE (@NETrunkRoads) teams working hard! Can you spot #ReadySpreadyGo&#GrittyGrittyBangBang reloading to head back onto the network? Another busy night ahead – #DriveSafe if out! pic.twitter.com/DBmbusSQIl[11][12][13][14][15]
— BEAR NW Trunk Roads (@NWTrunkRoads) January 17, 2018[16]
All schools in the Borders were closed due to the weather while 16 secondary schools, 58 primaries and 44 nurseries in the Highlands were shut. Around 20 schools in Dumfries and Galloway and 28 schools and nurseries in South Lanarkshire were also closed. All prelim exams scheduled to take place in North Lanarkshire secondary schools on Thursday have also been postponed.
Public Health England issued cold weather alerts and health warnings in light of the cold weather, urging people to take extra care. The Met Office amber warning advises that travel disruption is likely, with a risk that some vehicles may be stranded. The warning, which runs from 9pm on Wednesday until 5am on Thursday, says that 3-8cm of fresh snow is likely to accumulate widely, with up to 20cm over high ground.
A amber severe weather warning for #snow has been issued: https://t.co/QwDLMfRBfs Stay #weatheraware @metofficeukpic.twitter.com/YNnAOo16px[17][18][19][20][21]
— Met Office (@metoffice) January 17, 2018[22]
Yellow “be aware” warnings of snow and ice for much of the country are valid until Friday.
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