M5: Junction 10 upgrade moving forward by | Gloucester News Centre - http://gloucesternewscentre.co.uk/Gloucestershire County Council’s cabinet are being asked to agree the contract for a scheme to upgrade Junction 10 of the M5 in Gloucestershire.
In March, the Government announced that the county council’s bid for £219m to fund the upgrade of Junction 10 of the M5 had been successful. Since then plans have been accelerated to build the junction which will give access from the motorway both northbound and southbound into Cheltenham.
The new junction will support areas identified for housing north and west of Cheltenham in planning policy documents (joint core strategy). The junction will also open up employment land, boosting economic growth and providing more jobs, as well as helping to improve local roads for the benefit of the entire county.
When the new junction is in place those travelling south from north west Cheltenham will be able to join the motorway without travelling across the town to junction 11; reducing congestion, unnecessary traffic pollution and improving journey times. The town’s environment will also receive a boost as traffic will be reduced on unsuitable urban roads.
In addition, a new link road and associated junctions will be built linking the new M5 Junction 10 to the west Cheltenham area. There will also be capacity improvements to the A4019, an upgraded junction at Coombe Hill, with the Arle Court Park and Ride site being expanded and converted to an ‘interchange’.
A ‘Park and Interchange’ is a hub where there are a number of transport facilities available to use, compared to a ‘Park and Ride’ where boarding a bus is the only transport provision available. The detailed planning for the upgrade is at an early stage, however additional facilities such as electric vehicle charging points, and extensive cycle racking so people can cycle onwards in to town could be included as well as the option to get on a bus.
Discussions with Homes England, who have awarded the funding to the council, are underway so that the contract can be signed as soon as possible. In the meantime the council has increased the pace of the project to meet the challenging delivery programme.
A public consultation is planned to start in autumn 2020 with an exact location for the new motorway junction expected to be announced in spring 2021. A further consultation linked to the planning application will follow.
Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member for environment and planning, said: “The council has seen the upgrade of junction 10 as a priority for the county for many years and I hope cabinet will once again give their backing to this scheme which will cut unnecessary journeys and pave the way for affordable housing, cyber jobs and for the future of central Gloucestershire.