Essential upgrade work to restart near Bristol Airport

Work to upgrade the ageing electricity network around Bristol Airport resumes next week and travellers are being warned of possible delays.

We are putting in new underground high voltage cables along a kilometre stretch of the A38 at the junction of Downside Road.

Work will resume on Monday 22 January and finish on Friday 2 February to replace cables dating from the 1950s that have gradually deteriorated and started causing repeated faults.

The installation began in the autumn and was planned to be completed by Christmas but a fault at a Portishead substation meant the project had to be suspended in December.

A contraflow system will be operating to manage traffic, as well as signage on surrounding roads explaining access for local use.

Lewis Smith, area team manager, said: “We apologise for the delay in getting this cable-laying work finished and for the inconvenience this may cause people using the A38 and Bristol Airport.

“This £300,000 project is essential to upgrade the network for customers locally and will mean more reliable power supplies. It will also meet the growing demand for electricity for many years to come.”