The M5 today.... a sunny bank holiday the main road to beaches in the South West is eerily empty
By Tim Lethaby
12th Apr 2020 | Local News
A sunny Sunday bank holiday and usually this stretch of the M5 would be busy with day trippers and holiday makers on their way to take in some sun and sand at Weston super Mare or Burnham on Sea.
Not today (April 12).
This was the view from the nearest motorway bridge across the M5 under the current lockdown at lunchtime.
As you can see. the motorway, usually one of the busiest in the UK, is completely empty.
The M5 stretches for 162 miles and is the main route to the seaside resorts of the South West, and then into Devon.
But it seems, certainly at the time these photos were taken, day trippers heeded the lockdown, and agreed that necessary travel does NOT include visiting the beaches.
Weston super Mare would have expected to see a large proportion of its annual tally of 750,000 visitors today, with nice bank holiday weather and a high of 21c.
Earlier this week the chief executive of Visit Somerset, John Turner re-iterated his comments telling people to stay away.
He said: "This is a difficult message for someone in my position to be giving, but these are difficult times.
"I know it's disappointing and hugely tough on businesses, but there will be plenty of time to come and visit us and explore our great county.
"Now is not the time. We have to protect our NHS, our key workers and our county."
The M5 is usually one of the busiest of the UK motorways and under normal circumstances would have been nose to tail over the bank holiday weekend.
According to the latest government collected statistics, between 2013 and 2018, the overall growth in car traffic outstripped population growth.
The biggest increase in traffic overall was vans taking to the roads that grew 0.9% between 2017 and 2018 to reach a record high of 51.0 billion vehicle miles; the fastest growth in percentage terms of any motor vehicle type.
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