National Highways says it has “not been a good year” for the M5 amid a number of closures of the key route through the South West. Repeated closures have led Sir Ashley Fox, MP for Bridgwater, to write to the government calling for an urgent review into the way closures on the M5 are managed, says the BBC.

The road has closed on a number of occasions during 2026 for crashes and welfare-led incidents. Police said any effort to speed up the process to open the road after incidents could undermine any criminal prosecutions.

Ian Thompson, National Highways’ lead officer for stakeholder relations in the region, said:

“We fully appreciate the impact that these incidents and closures have on the local communities.” The solution to that is to build a new road along the M5 – that’s not happening. So the only way to deal with the impact of congestion is to reduce the number of incidents,” he added.

The closures have led Bridgwater’s MP to write to the government calling for an urgent review into the way closures on the M5 are managed.

“The M5 is a vital artery for Somerset but it feels like residents are being brought to a halt almost every week,” said Mr Fox.

“When the motorway closes for hours, traffic floods onto local roads that were never designed to cope. Residents are stuck in gridlock, businesses suffer, and people’s daily lives are disrupted.”

According to figures from National Highways, Somerset has 12.9% of the South West’s motorway network and 15.7% of incidents leading to a closure happen in the county – but 29.1% of incidents involving “persons in crisis” occur along this stretch.

In a letter to the Roads Minister, Mr Fox has called for greater use of managed traffic flows and contraflow systems, improved diversion routes and traffic management measures, and a review of procedures involving people in crisis.

(Picture: Mapillary)