No more 'missing link' as new route opens

Drivers can now use the A417's long-awaited missing link route, after years of disruption.

A new road layout between Gloucester and Cirencester has opened as part of a £500m project designed to ease congestion and improve journey safety.

It is the first time drivers can travel along the A417, which connects the M5 and M4, without having to negotiate a busy roundabout.

David Collicott, a motorist from Tewkesbury, said the route was a "fantastic piece of engineering" which allowed cars to "flow straight through without any delays or diversions".

The A417 missing link scheme has been under way since 2023 and aims to improve the connection between Brockworth and Cowley.

Gavin Jones, project director from contractor Kier, said the authority built a "new Crickley Hill" with a reduced gradient so larger vehicles can have a smoother ride.

"If you're coming from the Gloucester direction, you'll come up this new stretch of Crickley Hill that we've just built, you'll just go up the hill and you can continue on down to Cirencester," he told BBC Radio Gloucestershire.

"I am extremely pleased to say no-one will ever be needing to negotiate the Air Balloon Roundabout again," he added.

"You won't be getting stuck in that place any longer, you'll be flowing straight through on the new road that we've built and that's going to reduce people's journeys."

Collicott was one of the first people to drive on the new layout on Friday morning.

"There was a little bit of a delay between the A46 and the base of the hill," he said.

"But once you get on to the new section, traffic was flowing really nicely."

Jones said the team has reached the point that the "missing" part of the route can be consigned to history.

"We still have lots of work to do on the project, and you will see us working alongside the live carriageway on the new A417, building the remaining lanes, plus we will continue to transform the old A417 into a footpath, bridleway and cycle route," he added.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.