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From 6 November through to the 9 November between 21:00 – 04:00, we will have traffic lights in operation during our overnight closures. They will be positioned in three locations, A436 Leckhampton Road towards the Air Balloon roundabout, Leckhampton junction by Crickley Hill Country Park and A417 adjacent to the Air Balloon roundabout.

This will allow surveys to take place to enable works in the future regarding the high voltage ducting across the carriageway. Traffic will be stopped at the lights and follow the route around the roundabout which will be clearly signed. There will be one way traffic at any time.

The A417 operations team have taken the decision to postpone the full weekend closure due to unforeseen circumstances and the necessity to acquire further surveys on this part of the network.

We will commence works in the New Year.

A417 Missing Link scheme

Reminder: Site access works on the A436

November 2023

On 10 November, the A417 Missing Link project will start to create a new site entrance off the A436 near the Air Balloon roundabout. This work will provide easy access for site vehicles and heavy goods vehicles making deliveries to our new site offices and compound. It’s been carefully located to help keep traffic moving and congestion to a minimum during the project.

To keep everyone safe, we’ll need to close a small section of the A346 and the top of Leckhampton Hill whilst work is taking place, but we will do this over one weekend only to minimise disruption.

Road closure and diversion

A small section of the A436 and the top of Leckhampton Hill will be closed between 9pm on Friday 10 November and5am on Monday 13 November.

A diversion route will be placed via the A46, A40, A435 and A436 and has been agreed with the Gloucestershire County Council.

Crickley Hill Country Park and National Star College will be open for business as usual.

Access during the closure will be maintained at all times for residents and emergency services. The diversion route is 13 miles and will add approximately 25 minutes to your journey so plan accordingly.

Map of Road closure and traffic diversion

What work are you doing during the closure?

During this work we’ll remove existing traffic islands, create a temporary roundabout and install a new site entrance.

The main site office and compound will contain two-storey portacabin offices, welfare facilities, parking, and a materials storage area. It will also be home to machinery for crushing large pieces of excavated rock. This will enable us to re-purpose excavated material for use in the build: helping to further reduce the project’s carbon footprint.

We’ll aim to keep disruption to a minimum and apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused by our works.

Map showing the new road layout

Keep in touch

X and Facebook: @HighwaysSWEST

Call: 0300 123 5000

Visit our website: www.nationalhighways.co.uk/a417missinglink

Sign-up for weekly updates about upcoming work, including overnight closures and diversions by emailing A417MissingLink@nationalhighways.co.uk

A417 Missing Link scheme

Reminder: Crickley Hill widening

October – November 2023

On Monday 16 October, the A417 Missing Link project will start widening a small section of Crickley Hill. This work will crucially help us to keep the traffic moving and congestion to a minimum during phase two of the A417 project, when we’ll be working in this area.

To keep everyone safe, we will need to close the A417 in both directions whilst work is taking place. We’ll do this on weeknights only to minimise disruption.

An approved diversion route will be in place via the A46, A40, A435 and A436 and has been agreed with Gloucestershire County Council.

Road closure and diversion

The A417 will be closed overnight between 8pm and 6am on:

The diversion route is 10.6 miles and will add approximately 20 minutes to your journey so plan accordingly. Access during the overnight closures will be maintained at all times for residents and emergency services only.

Map showing road closure and traffic diversion

What work are you doing during the overnight closures?

A small section of road will be widened near Cold Slad on Crickley Hill, which is crucial to keeping the traffic moving and minimising disruption in the second phase of construction where we’ll be fully widening Crickley Hill.

As party of this work, we’ll be relocating some nearby utilities, but this will not affect resident’s supplies.

We’ll aim to keep disruption to a minimum and apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused by our works.

Map showing proximity of work to Cold Slad

Keep in touch

X and Facebook: @HighwaysSWEST

Call: 0300 123 5000

Website: www.nationalhighways.co.uk/a417missinglink

Sign-up for weekly updates about upcoming work, including overnight closures and diversions by emailing A417MissingLink@nationalhighways.co.uk

Dear Residents and Stakeholders

In September, we will be heavily focused on removing the remaining suitable habitat on site and ensuring as many reptiles as possible are translocated to our receptor sites before they go into hibernation at the end of the month.

In addition, bat emergence surveys will be taking place on buildings and trees to make sure there aren’t any bats present. Tree veteranisation activities will be taking place over the next few months to speed up what would naturally occur in more mature trees. This is a nature conservation tool to create decaying wood habitats on live young trees, which will then provide a thriving environment for wildlife, such as bats, birds, small mammals, and invertebrates.

We’re currently building a temporary road crossing near Cowley roundabout so that our machinery can easily get from our new satellite office to nearby work areas. When it’s finished, temporary traffic lights will be in operation between 9am and 5pm and will give priority to local traffic.

Road Management Services (RMS), which operates and maintains the A417 in this area, will be undertaking important structural repairs to Highworth Road underbridge on the A419 near Swindon in September. To keep workers and road users safe, the A419 in this location will be closed on the following dates and diversions will be in place between:

• 20:00 on Friday 22 September and 06:00 on Monday 25 September

Temporary traffic signals will also be installed on Highworth Road. All diversions will be clearly signposted and we will write to local people and install advance warning signs.

Motorists are advised to plan their journeys accordingly and to expect some delays.

For any further information on the Routine Maintenance on the strategic road network, please contact: office@rmscirencester.co.uk

Gloucestershire County Council manages the local road network and still has roadworks in place on the A435 at Seven Springs. Slope stabilisation works are due to Gloucestershire County Council manages the local road network and still has roadworks in place on the A435 at Seven Springs. Slope stabilisation works are due to be completed in October.

We are holding another round of Public Information Events for our Stakeholders and Customers. You are invited to join us to gain further information on the A417 Missing Link Scheme.

Monday 25 September – 2pm to 7:30pm

Shurdington Community Centre, Bishop Rd, Shurdington, Cheltenham GL51 4TB

Wednesday 27 September – 2pm to 7:30pm

Brockworth Community Centre, Court Rd, Brockworth, Gloucester GL3 4ET

Wednesday 4 October – 2pm to 7:30pm

Girl Guides, Deer Park, Cowley GL53 9NJ

Monday 9 October – 2pm to 7:30pm

National Star College, Ullenwood Manor Rd, Ullenwood, Cheltenham GL53 9QU

Wednesday 11 October - 2pm to 7:30pm

The George Inn, Royal George Hotel, Birdlip GL4 8JH

Monday 16 October – 9.00am to 4:00pm

Outside M&S, High Street, Cheltenham

Dear Stakeholders and Residents

Monday 28 Augustonwards, there will be a traffic-controlled plant crossing with priority to public traffic at Crimpenwell Lane, between the hours of 9am to 5pm to allow for our plant access.

Monday 9 Octoberfor 35-night shifts (21:00 – 06:00) for carriageway widening, there will be a full closure of Crickley Hill from the A46 to Air Balloon roundabout in both directions. A fully signed diversion route will be in place.

Friday 10, Saturday 11 and Sunday 12 of November, there will be a full weekend closure to build access to a site entrance opposite Leckhampton Hill, between the hours of 21:00pm on Friday 10 November to 06:00am on Monday 13 November.

Dear Stakeholders and Residents

Environmental updates for the A417 Missing Link scheme

July

July brought a change in the weather compared to the sunny month of June. Therefore, we’ve been able to begin the Roman snail translocations.

The team have been out early in the morning or late in the evening moving as many as they could find. The picture below shows a snail using the newly established hibernacula in the receptor site. The translocation will continue to take place this week with more rainy weather due.

For the badgers, further encouragement is needed to try and get them into the new sett. Over 20kg of peanuts has been distributed between the old and new sett so far, however the footage gathered shows no badgers entering the sett yet. Perseverance is always needed to encourage badgers to move, so more updates to follow.

What’s coming up in August?

All species translocations will continue well into August. The area of suitable habitat for the reptiles is becoming smaller, so it should become slightly easier to start trapping out the remaining animals. Alongside the translocations, the stone walls are continuing to come down and will do so until September. Many species have been found inside the stone walls with the most common being toads.

Over the next month, we will start to install new bat boxes. They will provide extra places for them to roost away from construction areas

Bats use night roosts when they are away from the maternity roosts. Night roosts are thought to extend feeding ranges and provide additional shelter and feeding perches.

29 June 2023

Dear Customer

Drainage survey works – July 2023

We’re writing to let you know that we’ll shortly be undertaking some drainage survey works on the A417 at Cowley/Nettleton Bottom between Monday 3 July and Thursday 13 July 2023.

These works will be undertaken in two phases using both temporary traffic lights and full closures of the A417 overnight, as detailed below:

Traffic lights (managed road traffic management)

Date: Monday 3 July until Friday 6 July 2023

Time: 9pm to 6am each night

Location: On the A417 near the Golden Heart Inn, traffic will be restricted to one lane and traffic lights will be installed. Due to the careful timing of the work, delays should be minimal.

Full closure of the A417

Date: Monday 10 July until Thursday 13 July 2023

Time: 9pm to 6am each night

Location: A417 Air Balloon roundabout to Cowley roundabout

Diversion: The road will be closed in both directions and an approved, fully signed diversion route will be in place via the A429 and A436. Local residents are being advised to use alternative routes.

The Golden Heart Inn will remain open for business and staff and customers will be escorted to and from the premises from Cowley roundabout. This may involve a short delay depending on our stage of work - our priority is always to keep road users and our workers safe. Thank you in advance for your patience.

To minimise disruption, we’ll be working on weeknights only when there are fewer vehicles on the road. During the day we’ll keep the road open as usual. We’d like to apologise in advance for any inconvenience or disruption you may experience during this work.

We always aim to work to the programme, however unforeseen circumstances or adverse weather conditions may mean changes to it.

We send out weekly updates on all roadworks, closures, and any diversions in place. If you would like to receive these emails, please email A417SchemeEnquiries@kier.co.uk and we will add your details to our database for future information.

If you would like further information about this work, please contact the National Highways Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000 open 24/7, who will direct your enquiry to the most appropriate person, or email: info@nationalhighways.co.uk

You can also visit our website: https://highwaysengland.co.uk/travel-updates/daily-closure- report/ where you can find a weekly report of all full closures across the network.

For information on all our works in the South West please follow us on Twitter @HighwaysSWEST

Yours faithfully

A417 Communications Team

A417SchemeEnquiries@kier.co.uk

This Open Day not only allows you to amble through private gardens but also offers a unique opportunity to savour this very special Cotswold village in a way not normally accessible to the casual visitor.

In addition to enjoying the gardens relax with cream teas, homemade cakes or ice creams, and visit the plant stall stalls to take back a reminder of a special day.

Visit our Grade 1 listed Norman church made extra special on the day with glorious flower displays and hear a community choir singing and the recently restored peal of bells ring out. The medieval wooden bell beam that supports them has been listed as being rare, if not unique. Appreciate the environmental initiatives in the churchyard including our wildflower Coronation Meadow, bug houses installed to encourage wildlife and our environmentally friendly loo.

All proceeds from the event go towards the upkeep of our church and our village hall.

Cost:

Adults £5.00, children free. Tickets available on the day at the car park field or at various sites around the village. Only assistance dog in gardens please.

Contact the organisers:

Email: admin@elkstonevillage.com

If you have any community news that you would like to share, please contact us at

A417schemeenquiries@kier.co.uk