Gloucestershire Ramblers reviews Highways England Preferred Route Announcement, and continues to press for a green bridge (a short tunnel) for the Cotswold Way, Gloucestershire Way, walkers, the pub and road users.
Email your views at A417@gloucestershireramblers.org.uk
Has the Air Balloon Inn been saved? & the routes of the Cotswold and Gloucestershire Ways?
March 2019 -Highways England issued their Preferred Route Announcement (PRA) for the proposed ‘A417
Missing Link’ dual carriageway. Based on Option 30 it makes no mention of demolishing the Air Balloon Inn.
It acknowledges: ‘The land take associated with Option 30 was raised by some people, with the removal
of the Air Balloon pub being a common concern.’
The PRA does discuss demolishing the nearby Air Balloon roundabout. However the main purpose of the
document is to show the proposed route of the A417 dual carriageway. Ongoing design of landscaping or
connections to the new road could be termed ‘work in progress’.
There are 3 suggested alternatives for Link roads to connect the A436 to the new road. An Alternative 4,
using the Air Balloon roundabout, is not mentioned.In contrast, all Highways England previous proposals
to use a tunnel retained the Air Balloon Inn and kept the roundabout to link the A436 to the new road.
Alternative 1 could keep the Air Balloon (plus Cotswold & Gloucestershire Ways) on a wide Green Bridge.
Alternative 2 could connect the A436 to the new road but probably has greater impact than Alternative 4.
Alternative 3 uses a popular track through woodland, part of circular route for riders and walkers.
(Option 30 Dual Carriageway Preferred Route overlaid onto OS map)
The new road should lead to a 90% reduction in traffic on the current road.
Rat-runs through local villages, at times when the current A417 is congested, should also disappear.
However traffic estimates indicate the inclusion of the Shab Hill to Birdlip B4070 link road could lead to a
new rat-run through Birdlip and onwards towards Painswick and Stroud. Similarly a proposed removal of
the Birdlip Bypass, could lead to reopening of the Roman Road for access to Stockwell & on to Nettleton.
Changing too much, can lead to unintended consequences. Birdlip could become a much busier place.
The Cotswolds AONB – Tourism, Business, Walking & Health
Simplifying Option 30 could create an inspirational road scheme using a wide (130 metre) green bridge
over the new A417 for the Cotswold & Gloucestershire Ways (& the Air Balloon car park). A further 50
metre green bridge has been proposed south of The Scrubbs for wildlife, fauna and flora. If green flanked
bridges are used for footpaths, bridleways and tracks, they too can help connect nature across the road.
The current A417 from Cold Slad turn can become slip roads to the Air Balloon Roundabout for the A436.
Part of the current A417 could be retained alongside as a cycle link from Bentham to the Air Balloon.
Barrow Wake SSSI should benefit from a reduction in traffic numbers of some 90%. A slight realignment
of the current A417 there could help rejoin parts of the SSSI separated some years ago.
The map shows local road arrangements retained around Birdlip but with most traffic removed from the
bypass. Footpath crossings near Parsons Pitch should improve but a review of road safety could be useful.
New A417 passing below Air Balloon car park (ESRI)
If £100m is available for landscaping, this could become an examplar scheme within the Cotswolds
AONB. Ramblers’ long campaign to take through-traffic off local roads could yet prove successful.
Green flanked bridges in the Dorset AONB (Google)