Junction 10 improvements move another step closer
26th March 2018
The government has announced that plans can move forward to allow traffic to join and exit the M5 in both directions at junction 10.
Gloucestershire County Council, Cheltenham and Tewkesbury Borough Councils, together with GFirst LEP, have worked in partnership towards achieving an 'all ways' M5 Junction 10 to support the delivery of the housing and employment growth set out in the Joint Core Strategy (JCS).
In 2016, the partnership worked on a bid to the Department for Transport's 'Large Local Major Transport Schemes Fund' for money to create an outline business case for work at the junction.
Then in 2017 the county council, supported by its partners, submitted an expression of interest as part of the governments 'Housing Infrastructure Fund'.
Last week's announcement that the expression of interest was successful means a more detailed business case can now be drawn up.
Junction 10 was opened in 1971 and is currently one of the few junctions on the M5 with restricted access. Resolving this is a top priority for the county council's adopted local transport plan and a key element of the JCS's infrastructure delivery plan.
At the moment, the junction has no access to join the motorway to travel south, and there is no exit for motorway traffic coming from the south. This means that traffic wishing to access the north west of Cheltenham has to use more local roads, causing congestion.
A new layout would see environmental benefits from less traffic travelling through Cheltenham, and businesses would see savings in their transport costs as they would no longer need to travel to or from junction 11. Emergency services would also be able to respond more easily to incidents on the M5 in the vicinity of the junction.
The 'all ways' improvement will also provide the transport infrastructure to support the phased delivery of west and north west Cheltenham's strategic development sites with up to 70 hectares of employment land, incorporating the internationally important cyber park, and 5,600 homes.
Cllr Lynden Stowe, cabinet member for economy, skills and growth said: "Gloucestershire is ripe for investment and this fantastic news shows the government's confidence in the county council to deliver these improvements at junction 10 of the M5.
"Allowing traffic to join and exit in both directions will make life easier for local people and businesses. The council will now work with government to move the project forward."
Diane Savory, chair of GFirst LEP said: "The announcement about Junction 10 of the M5 will make a real tangible difference to the lives of people living and working in Gloucestershire, I am excited to see how this progresses and comes to fruition."
Cllr Steve Jordan, leader of Cheltenham Borough Council, said: "Everyone I have spoken to locally thinks upgrading J10 is needed as soon as possible, so I am pleased that we are getting this message across at a national level."
Punchline says: "It's madness that this junction wasn't two-way right from the start. We would urge all businesses to get behind this campaign, which will unlock land for development and employment and make travel easier for businesses and residents alike."
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