Air Balloon roundabout A417 proposed changes survey

“What a strange questionnaire!

I answered thus to some of the points:

How many times - should have had a "0" option since I don't use that route very often - I had to put in "1"

I answered "where to/from" query with "it depends" - this Friday I was going to Cirencester, but on Wednesday it was Swindon. And before you say should not the "how many times" box have been "2", no it shouldn't since that's the first times I've used the route since Xmas.

On the "would I change?" query I've answered "I might have to change depending where I was going to and from" - isn't that obvious?”

“How about moving the roundabout to the Leckhampton Hill junction but leave the left turn down the hill to Gloucester where it is. Then create 2 lanes in each direction on the A417, from the top of the hill to the roundabout and down the hill for as long as possible. Currently there are 3 lanes, so this would require creating a 4th. Here's a link to a rough sketch of my idea http://tinyurl.com/asujqek”

“How about moving the roundabout to the Leckhampton Hill junction but leave the left turn down the hill to Gloucester where it is. Then create 2 lanes in each direction on the A417, from the top of the hill to the roundabout and down the hill for as long as possible. Currently there are 3 lanes, so this would require creating a 4th. Here's a link to a rough sketch of my idea, though not sure if posting links is allowed. http://tinyurl.com/asujqek”

“How much will it cost to build a 4 way roundabout? Theses plans have been created by a cretin of the highest order!”

“Another thought to add - what will happen to traffic coming from A40 / Oxford direction, bypassing Cheltenham.

As far as I can see, traffic from the west / M5 will have unimpeded access onto the roundabout. In peak times, the weight of traffic heading to Swindon will block access to the roundabout for anybody coming from the East. Queues will be horrendous and it won't be long before drivers realise that the only alternatives will be to follow the A40 through Cheltenham (chaos) or rat-runs through Charlton Kings / Leckhampton (even more chaos).

Whoever thought of this scheme should be fired, or if not, selected for drug testing...”

“This is no more than a diversion by the Highways Agency so that they can continue to avoid the real problem - that of reducing the number of people being killed and injured in motor accidents on the dangerous section of road between Nettleton Bottom and the Air Balloon. The proposed plan simply redistributes the congestion and pollution over a wider area with no safety benefits.

We pay a fortune in transportation taxes yet a very small percentage is returned to improve road infrastructure. Governments would rather use the money buying votes by supporting populist policies. In the final analysis road deaths are no more than a priced statistic to them and locally nothing will happen until we are lucky enough to get a few supportive heavyweight MPs.

Ironically our billions donated to the EU has been spent and often wasted on road infrastructure in spain (and elsewhere). Driving on the AP7 motorway in Murcia is a pleasure with very little traffic, similar to the M50 20 years ago. Within a mile and largely running parallel is the N332 coastal road, ungraded at huge cost to a dual carriageway through urban areas. Not needed but the free money was burning a hole in their pockets.”

“safeand nice - I found it with your assistance. Thanks very much. This site is not very good and all the ads on it just make it more confusing.”

“Elljay1 on my screen there is a half hidden submit box just below
'Please use this box to let us know your preferred plan of action to ease congestion at the Air Balloon roundabout'

There's a scroll bar on the right of the questionaire”

“Still can't work out how to submit my questionnaire once completed. There is no "submit" button for it and if I "submit" under "Add your comments" I just get a message saying that I must add a comment.”

“if you're heading into charlton kings or that side of cheltenham from cirencester and they make this change, surely the traffic will transfer to the old road rather than the dual carriage way rather than head down the A46.

so it's unlikely to be the shurdington road that gets busier but the villages on the A436.”