A417 missing link development near Gloucester approved

Plans include a 37m wide crossing, allowing users of the Gloucestershire Way to cross the improved A417 safely

A £460m plan to improve a notorious traffic bottleneck and accident blackspot has been approved.

The A417 'missing link' scheme near Gloucester will bypass the Air Balloon roundabout to improve traffic flow.

Two extra lanes will be added to the road and the gradient down Crickley Hill will be reduced from 10% to 8%.

There have been calls for changes to be made to the stretch for decades, and the contractor Keir will start work next year.

The approved set of plans will see 3.4 miles (5.5km) of new dual carriageway built.

This will follow the route of the current A417 but will swing away before it reaches the Air Balloon roundabout.

A new design for the Cotswold Way footpath crossing has been unveiled

A new junction will be created at Shab Hill, providing a link from the A417 to the A436 towards Oxford and into Birdlip, and another junction will replace the Cowley roundabout.

The existing A417 between the Air Balloon roundabout and the Cowley roundabout will be repurposed, with some lengths converted into a route for walkers, cyclists and horse riders, while retaining other sections to maintain local access for residents.

'Fantastic news'

Cotswold MP Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Con) has called for major upgrades on the road for the past 15 years and called the decision "fantastic news".

"It will bring growth and investment to Gloucestershire, more jobs, less environmental damage from stationary cars, and it will improve safety," he said.

National Highways says the road carries around 40,000 vehicles a day and congestion can be frequent and unpredictable.

Some motorists divert onto local roads to avoid tailbacks, causing issues for local communities and roads which were not built to accommodate so much traffic.