One of the biggest road bridges in Britain is to be built over a new £460m dual carriageway.
The Gloucestershire Way Crossing will be 37-metres wide to get cyclists, horse-riders and walkers across the new A417 Missing Link road. It will be the third and largest multi-purpose road crossing in the UK.
The crossing will also include a 27-metre strip of calcareous (chalky) grassland and hedgerows. The National Highways road project, which will mean the end of the notorious single-carriageway section of the A417 at Birdlip, is scheduled for completion in spring 2027.
Anyone driving around the area of construction (from the Air Balloon roundabout to the Cowley roundabout) will see huge earthworks taking place as well as big changes to road layouts.
These include the new mini-roundabouts at the top of Leckhampton Hill where it joins the A436 and the contraflow system at the Cowley end. It also led to the demolition of the Air Balloon pub.
More details about the A417 scheme have been released following the signing of a landmark agreement between National Highways and Natural England which aims to support the delivery of world-class national infrastructure whilst ensuring better outcomes for the environment.
It was signed on the landscape-led A417 Missing Link project, which aims to deliver four-miles of a safer road with free-flowing traffic while conserving and enhancing the special character, natural beauty and wildlife of the Cotswolds National Landscape.
The new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlines the framework for collaboration between the two organisations and its primary aim is improving environmental outcomes along the Strategic Road Network (SRN).
Steve Foxley, A417 Project Director, added: “It’s a privilege to have the Memorandum of Understanding signed at the A417 Missing Link scheme, a project that truly reflects our commitment to sustainable infrastructure.
“This landscape-led scheme is a testament to how we can integrate world-class environmental practices alongside vital transport improvements.
“From wildlife crossings to new habitats, we’ve taken great care to ensure that our work respects and enhances the stunning Cotswold landscape.”
Emma Johnson, West Midlands deputy director, Natural England, said: “This agreement (MoU) will help us work even better with National Highways to develop strategic approaches to issues such as air pollution.
“Also to optimise the National Highways’ soft estate* to improve the connection of spaces rich in nature and on a grand scale.
“We have worked with National Highways on the A417 road scheme, which was the location for the MoU signing, to achieve significant improvements to the original proposal.
“Meaning that the final solution is better for nature and people. The sort of actions that have been agreed include a diversion of the Cotswold Way National Trail onto a new bridge, making use of and improving the old carriageway which will make the trail more accessible.
“The road scheme will benefit Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake SSSI, as well as 72.5ha of new calcareous grassland as part of biodiversity net gain.”
