Campaign to force action on M5 junction 10, A417 and A46
TRANSPORT chiefs are being lobbied to make improvements to three of the county's most congested routes, including junction 10 of the M5.
The Echo has supported the campaign to upgrade the junction near Cheltenham to a full four-way access point.
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And the Gloucestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has now written to the Highways Agency urging it to take action.
The other two roads it has highlighted are the A417 and the A46.
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The LEP and Worcestershire LEP have been working together to try and minimise cross-border transport problems and they have identified a selection of "pinch points" which need fixing.
They say the traffic problems they cause are having an "adverse impact" on the economies of both counties.
One of the problem areas is the A417 Air Balloon roundabout, Brockworth to Cowley, labelled the 'missing link'.
The single carriageway section of the route currently handles between 28,000 and 33,000 vehicles everyday despite having a significantly lower capacity of just 18,000.
The road acts as one of the most heavily congested routes in the south west of England, acting as an important strategic route between the M4 at Swindon and the M5 at Gloucester.
The second pinch point is the A46 trunk road to the east of the M5 at junction nine.
The bridge replacement and full movement junction at junction 10 of the M5 are also mentioned in the letter as an area which would benefit from some remedial action.
The LEP wants the Highways Agency to commit to funding improvements.
Diane Savory, chairwoman of Gloucestershire LEP, said: "We want the Highways Agency to find a resolution to these pinch points to ensure our county has an infrastructure to support the growth of Gloucestershire."
Councillor Chas Fellows, Gloucestershire County Council cabinet member for economy and environment, added: "These are important transport issues that we have raised a number of times in the past.
"We welcome the LEP's support of our ongoing efforts."
Comments
by Jordan00
Monday, October 08 2012, 8:51PM
“We desperately need the A417 widening between the Air Balloon and Cowley roundabout. Every morning and evening I experience lengthy queues at the end of the dual carriageway. It would make such a difference to businesses throughout the counties and has got to be a benefit for the environment - reducing all those car / lorry emissions.
Surely this is an infrastructure project that is urgently needed?”
by Matt1006
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 1:14PM
“tombardier - plus the single-lane section of the A40 between the Longford (A38) and Over (A417) roundabouts. Always been a bottleneck, and should have been dual carriageway when first built. But as the majority of it is a raised causeway / bridge, the chances of it being widened & dualled now are non-existent, I'd say.
I thought the P&R was supposed to be going by the Highnam (A48) roundabout, hence the eastbound bus lane between the Highnam traffic lights & Over bridge? But wherever it's slated for, it isn't there at present and shows no signs of appearing any time soon.
To add further to the list of major road improvements needed, the much-discussed Cheltenham north-west bypass. Maybe linked into a re-built J10...??? Will be very much needed if the tens of thousands of suggested new homes ever get built, but then I guess the substantial S106 payments linked to planning permissions will be used (in part) for major road schemes. Or maybe not, if the developers can wriggle their way out of the payments.
Re. the A46 to the east of J9, any housing re-development of Ashchurch camp should be linked to existing road improvements, again through developer's S106 payments. In which case the same could apply here as to a Chelt NW bypass...”
by tombardier
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 12:31PM
“The A40 at Over Roundabout gets my vote too - Where's this park and ride they promised us?”
by justbecause
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 10:35AM
“Absolutely spot on. A417 & J10 a priority! These 2 issues alone would have a MASSIVE POSITIVE knock on effect to the county........More construction LESS red tape please!”
by Matt1006
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 9:42AM
“Good on the LEP for getting onto the Highways Agency about these issues - the HA know already they exist, but there seems to be little progress with getting anything done about them.
How long is it going to take for the HA to decide what their Plan B is for junction 10? The original scheme was due to kick off in March, immediately after the NH Festival. The over-bridge foundations are knackered and aren't going to get better by themselves, so it's accepted that something has to be done at some point. How much longer can they leave the bridge as it is before they HAVE to do something (e.g. weight limit, temporary props etc.)?
6 months have now passed since the original scheme was put on hold - can we assume that this time delay is because they are working on an enhanced scheme (hopefully a full junction upgrade), or are they just dragging their feet before they announce that the original scheme is what is going to happen, presumably then starting immediately after the 2013 NH festival?
If the J10 scheme isn't finalised, an update from the HA to advise this would be nice. Or will the first we know about be when the big yellow "Road works start here [insert date]" signs appear on the A4019...???”
by GlosCityRes
Tuesday, October 02 2012, 9:36AM
“The most important one to get done is the A417, it causes misery on a daily basis and that doesn't include any accidents that happen.”