Since our last bulletin we have made progress preparing the site for works to start in June 2020. 

Pine Lodge and White Lodge, two houses opposite KFC near Arle Court Roundabout have been demolished. This will allow for widening of the Hatherley Lane arm of the roundabout. During the construction period this site will be used as the contractor’s site compound.

Pine Lodge near Cheltenham demolition in progress

Contract award - improvements from M5 Junction 11 up to and including Arle Court Roundabout 

The contract for the first part of the scheme, at Arle Court Roundabout and on the A40 from M5 Junction 11 eastbound towards Arle Court Roundabout (in the direction of Cheltenham Town Centre), has been awarded to Knights Brown.

In place of a face-to-face 'meet the contractor' information share event, Knights Brown has released a video and information online to introduce themselves and the work to you digitally. Follow this link to watch the video.

There will also be an opportunity to meet the contractor virtually through the county council's YouTube channel.

Knights Brown will be joined by Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) Project Team in a live online session on 12 June at 10am. Follow this link to watch on YouTube.

We will continue to look into new ways to bring information to you even though we can not meet in person at the moment. Knights Brown and GCC will be providing regular newsletter updates as the project progresses to keep you informed.

A40 Travel Plan

We have been working on a travel plan to help ease anticipated congestion caused by the work on the A40 and surrounding area and the links between Cheltenham and Gloucester. This plan investigated ways to encourage people to use alternatives such as public transport, walking and cycling as well as to consider options such as re-timing and re-routing journeys or avoiding the need to travel altogether for example by working from home.

However the Coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on this. The most recent government guidance (at the time of writing) is to discourage people from using public transport, so those who have no alternative can travel safely and follow social distancing guidelines on trains and buses.

Currently we are concentrating on encouraging walking, cycling and remote working, until government guidance allows us to also promote public transport use. We will be reaching out to our partners and local businesses to understand if their business needs have changed.

More information on Coronavirus and public transport:

The Government’s Safer Travel Guidance for Passengers

National Rail Coronavirus advice

Traveline Coronavirus update

Stagecoach West

COVID-19 position

We want to reassure you that we are working with our highways contractors in Gloucestershire to protect all staff, following government and industry guidance regarding COVID-19 and construction work.

We are making progress with the West Cheltenham Transport Improvement Scheme using the principles of social distancing and working remotely.

Next stage update

Thank you to everyone who gave us feedback on the next stage of the scheme, which includes plans for Benhall Roundabout, Telstar Way junction and improved walking and cycling options to connect the town centre with west Cheltenham. We received a range of feedback including from councillors, key stakeholders, cycle groups, mobility groups and members of the public, which we have summarised for the GFirst LEP board to consider. The move to a greater digital presence resulted in 1,081 page views on our website during the public share engagement period.

Get others involved

As always please do send this message on to anyone who you think would be interested in these important improvements in Cheltenham. Anyone can sign up to receive future news bulletins about this scheme too.

More information:

Website  www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/WCTIS 

Email   majorprojects@gloucestershire.gov.uk