Summary
Gloucestershire motorists are being forced to endure a never-ending traffic nightmare that will only be made worse by a two-year closure of an M5 junction . That is the view of opposition councillors who say expecting already busy local roads to absorb extra traffic during the closure is an “absolute disaster waiting to happen”.
Details
Gloucestershire County Council announced this week that junction 10 near Cheltenham will close for around two years from early 2027. A major upgrade is planned to allow drivers to join and leave the M5 at the junction in all directions, for the first time ever.
The motorway improvements will also pave the way for more than 20,000 new homes and support the Golden Valley development and the National Cyber Innovation Centre and wider technology cluster in creating around 12,000 skilled jobs. The M5 itself will remain open past the junction but the slip roads will be closed, meaning motorists will not be able to join or exit there.
Withybridge Lane will also be closed during this period while work takes place. Councillor Vernon Smith (Tewkesbury West), who leads the Reform UK opposition group at Shire Hall, is extremely concerned about the impact the closure will have on the county’s busy roads. The announcement comes a week after the Government revealed it would not be funding the much-needed improvements to junction 9 at Tewkesbury.
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Cllr Smith said: ” Tewkesbury and Ashchurch residents are once again being made to pay the heavy price of central government planning and council inadequacy.
“Scrapping the vital M5 Junction 9a scheme while expecting our local roads to absorb the fallout of a two-year closure at Junction 10 is an absolute disaster waiting to happen.” He went on to say “local families and motorists are being treated as collateral damage – forced to live through endless gridlock and a traffic nightmare”.
Green Party councillor Ian Cameron, who represents Prestbury and Swindon Village at Shire Hall, says the closure will inevitably cause significant disruption for residents, businesses and commuters. He said it will require innovative and proactive traffic management to minimise the impact on our communities.
But the situation highlights the much bigger issue of the county being “far too dependent on private car travel because we have not invested sufficiently in the fast, reliable and affordable public transport links we need”.
Report source: Gloucestershire Live
