Road closed for three months to fix damaged bridge

The bridge was damaged and partially collapsed after poor weather in May 2024

An A-road will be closed for three months for repairs to a bridge which partially collapsed after poor weather.

Gloucestershire County Council said a section of Hambrook Bridge, known locally in Cheltenham as Spring Bridge, had been heavily damaged in May last year.

A section of the A40 London Road in the Charlton Kings area of the town, will be closed from Monday until 13 November while repairs are carried out.

Councillor Joe Harris, cabinet member for highways maintenance, said: "Without action the bridge will simply not survive."

The bridge over the River Chelt is believed to have been designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer who designed the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol, and is a historically significant structure.

The council said the collapse had revealed underlying problems and it needed to deploy a specialist to help preserve the bridge's heritage.

It added some essential services, such as live fibre optic cables below the road's surface, would make repairs more complex.

'Businesses are worried'

Sam Heaven, who owns The Hat Shop on London Road, told BBC Radio Gloucestershire the closure will "affect her business quite a lot".

"I get a lot of custom from Oxford-way," she said.

"I'm hoping the diversions are good enough and they don't put people off from visiting.

"I'm imagining the diversions are going to get pretty blocked up, especially in the morning and afternoon around the school times as well.

"A lot of the other businesses are worried about it, they rely on passing traffic."

Harris said he "appreciates the inconvenience" the closure will cause, adding the council is "doing everything we can to complete the work swiftly and safely".

"The last thing we want to do is close a road but this is a big job and we must act quickly to save the A40 London Road," he added.

"Please allow extra time for your journeys and follow the signed diversion route. We will keep you fully up to date on our website as the work progresses."

When the road reopens, two-way temporary traffic lights will be installed until mid-December.