LEP and County Council champion Junction 10 improvements

Gloucestershire County Council and GFirst LEP are working together 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 Junction 10 on the M5.

Junction 10 is currently one of the few junctions on the M5 with restricted access.

At the moment traffic coming from the North can exit there and those wishing to travel north can join there. However, the junction has no access to join the motorway to travel south, and there is no exit for motorway traffic coming from the south.

Traffic wishing to access the north west area of Cheltenham from the south has to exit at Junction 11 and then use the A4013 at Princess Elizabeth Way which is busy residential area. Journeys to the south from this area suffer the same problem.

The bid will request approximately £1million of funding, and if successful, the  LEP and county council will invest a further £68,000 over the next two years for the study and the business case.

Cllr Nigel Moor, cabinet member for fire, planning and infrastructure said, “The county council continues it’s commitment to invest in keeping our county moving. With the improvements already made at the Walls and C&G roundabouts, if junction 10 can be improved too, drivers will benefit from even better journey times. The north-west area of Cheltenham would be better off too because it would become a more desirable area for business.”

David Owen, chief executive of GFirst LEP said, “GFirst LEP firmly advocates four-way access at Junction 10 of the M5. Gloucestershire thrives on logistical advantage – its ability to connect customers with markets, and we see Junction 10 as a significant issue. Upgrading the junction features as an important part of our Strategic Economic Plan and Growth Zone proposals; and the improvements would unlock a strategic employment and mixed use site, attracting significant new growth and jobs.”

Junction 10 is in the Cheltenham Air Quality Management Area and a new layout would see environmental benefits from less traffic travelling though Cheltenham.

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.