BREAKING: Next steps in £372m J10 scheme revealed
Summary
The main works and final funding agreement for the £372million M5 J10 project are expected to be given the nod next week. Gloucestershire County Council bosses are preparing to officially accept a £71m government funding boost for the project.
Details
On Wednesday (June 10) cabinet will be asked to approve the signing of the paperwork and final steps needed to move the massive project near Cheltenham forward to completion. Contractor Galliford Try will then be given the green light to begin enabling works on the upgrade and start main construction works in early 2027. The project is now due for completion in Spring 2029 – four years later than originally planned.
It will see a new link road to west Cheltenham created, with widening of the A4019 Tewkesbury Road and provision of dedicated footways and cycle lanes. Once complete, it is expected to enable the delivery of more than 20,000 new homes in the area, including 7,000 affordable, and support the £1billion Golden Valley cyber park which will create around 12,000 skilled jobs for local people.
The council has spent more than five years and invested more than £14m into bringing the massive transport upgrade to the brink of construction. The bulk of funding for the J10 project was first secured in 2020 through a £249m grant from the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF).
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It was to pay for a £363m trio of projects which encompassed the now completed £35.4m Arle Court Transport Hub and the delayed £5.57m Coombe Hill improvement works. However, “dramatic jumps” in inflation and world events, which impacted the construction industry, caused and delays and saw costs spiral, leaving a £81m funding gap.
This put the J10 scheme in serious jeopardy of losing its government funding and having to be scrapped last year. However, the scheme, categorised as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project by the government, was granted a development consent order (DCO) by the Secretary of State in June 2025.
In January the council then managed to secure a further £71.5m of Whitehall funding for the project in what was dubbed “a turning point for Gloucestershire”.
The £407m total cost of the three linked transport projects will now be covered by: £320.6m government HIF grant £10m of secured Community Levy Infrastructure (CIL) funding £20m of future CIL funding £32.5m of future S106 funding £20m future council capital receipts £4m council capital funding Uxbridge headquartered company Galliford Try has been on site since the autumn carrying out preparatory works for the scheme.
Report source: Punchline Gloucester