What we’ll see first as construction starts on ?460m road scheme

Driving into and out of Gloucestershire will never be the same again when the GBP460m Missing Link scheme is completed in early 2027. But there’s a lot of work to be done to create a new 3.4-mile dual-carriageway to replace the single-carriage stretch near Birdlip. Preliminary work has already begun, including diverting public rights of way, working to protect wildlife, and carrying out archaeological digs.

This is all before construction work starts properly later in 2023. And the first thing people will see is widening work on the existing A417 at Crickley Hill. This will be done so that traffic management can be safely installed and operated during the main build, National Highways says.

How the new-look A417 up Crickley Hill will look after the GBP460m upgrade (Image: National Highways)

The Crickley Hill part of the A417 is notorious for lorries breaking down on the steep incline up from the A46 Shurdington Road junction to the Air Balloon roundabout. One stuck lorry halfway up the hill can lead to huge tailbacks. The scheme will see the gradient of this part of the road up Crickley Hill reduced.

There will also be a third ‘crawler lane’ leaving two lanes free for other traffic. At present there are two lanes going up the hill and one lane coming down. Traffic can make its slow way up the hill towards the Air Balloon roundabout, but traffic heading down can be tempted to speed in the single-carriageway until it turns into dual-carriageway at the bottom.

The project would see three lanes going up and two lanes down.

T raffic heading from Gloucestershire towards Wiltshire would stay on a dual-carriageway that would bypass the Air Balloon roundabout, which will remain for local traffic heading to the A436 and Leckhampton.

References

1. ^ Watch huge A417 Air Balloon roundabout and pub change in GBP460m Missing Link scheme (www.gloucestershirelive.co.uk)