A-road to close overnight for several weeks

An A-road will be closed overnight for several weeks in February and March as the latest phase of a £460m road project is carried out.

Traffic between Gloucester and Cirencester will be affected on 13 February during the first A417 closure from 21:00 GMT to 06:00 the following morning.

The road will be shut northbound from the A429 Burford Road near Cirencester to the Air Balloon roundabout so potholes can be repaired. The southbound road will be closed between the Air Balloon Roundabout and The Highwayman Inn.

The works, part of the A417 Missing Link project, prelude a four-week overnight closure of the road from 16 February.

The longer closure, to 13 March, will see the A417 shut in both directions between the A46 Brockworth junction and the Air Balloon Roundabout between Monday and Friday, from 21:00 to 06:00.

National Highways said the road will be open during the day as normal.

Access for traffic heading to Cirencester via the A417, Leckhampton Hill, and the A436 will remain open by the Air Balloon Roundabout, including entry to Crickley Hill Country Park.

There will be no pedestrian access between the A46 Brockworth junction and the Air Balloon Roundabout during the closures, but no other walking routes will be affected.

The Missing Link project aims to improve the connection between two dual carriageway sections of the A417.

National Highways said that during the closures it will be carrying out earthworks, drainage and surfacing works to prepare for traffic to be moved onto the new A417, and it will monitor noise produced by these activities.

The project is set to be completed in spring 2027.

Céline Acard, senior project manager, said the team is "working very hard to make sure we're on target".

"The last thing we want is to impact our road users so everything is done in a way that we can minimise the impact we have on them," Acard said.

"At the minute, the weather is a challenge but we're doing everything to minimise that."

There will also be weekend closures on the A436, from the Air Balloon Roundabout and Seven Springs Roundabout from 21:00 on 6 March to 06:00 on 9 March, and from 20 March to 23 March between the same hours.

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