A417 road

The A417 is a main road in England, running from Streatley, Berkshire to Hope under Dinmore, Herefordshire. It is best known for its section between Cirencester and Gloucester where it has primary status and forms part of the link between the major settlements of Swindon and Gloucester.

History

When the A417 was first designated in 1922, it ran only from Streatley to Cirencester.<ref>1922 road list</ref> In 1935 it was extended to Gloucester, on the former route of the A419, and on to Ledbury and Hope under Dinmore.

There have been numerous upgrades and bypasses, particularly on the primary section. At Faringdon, its traditional route over Folly Hill and down through the market place has been blocked by the more recent development of the A420 and the road has been diverted to the south. The Birdlip bypass, opened in 1988, avoided a steep (16%) gradient as the road descended the Cotswold Edge escarpment to Brockworth.

On 31 December 2022, the 200-year old Air Balloon pub at the roadside near Birdlip closed for the final time, before demolition to allow the road to be upgraded.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

Brockworth bypass

Southeast of Gloucester, the A417 originally followed a stretch of Roman road through the rural parish of Brockworth.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> A factory was built here by the Gloster Aircraft Company, followed by other industries and housing. A draft route was published at the end of January 1991 to bypass Brockworth to the north, with work costing £35m to start in 1993.<ref>Gloucester Citizen Thursday 31 January 1991, page 1</ref> A three-week public inquiry took place in early November 1991. There were protestors, who offered three alternative routes.<ref>Gloucester Citizen Monday 28 October 1991, page 9</ref><ref>Gloucester Citizen Wednesday 6 November 1991 page 3</ref>

Esso and Granada wanted to build a service area on the new bypass, at Badgeworth at the bottom of Crickley Hill. In December 1991 Tewkesbury Borough Council rejected the proposal as it would interfere with the Cotswolds AONB.<ref>Gloucester Citizen Thursday 19 December 1991, page 11</ref> The Template:Convert bypass was given the go-ahead in December 1992, with a new free-flow junction 11A on the M5 motorway.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Thursday 3 December 1992, page 3</ref><ref>Gloucester Citizen Friday 4 December 1992, page 7</ref>

The £34m contract was given to George Wimpey in December 1993, with the bypass to be completed by the end of 1995. Frank Graham were the consulting engineers.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Wednesday 8 December 1993, page 5</ref> The bypass was opened by John Watts on 18 December 1995.<ref>Gloucester Citizen Monday 18 December 1995, page 3</ref><ref>Western Daily Press Monday 18 December 1995, page 12</ref><ref>Gloucester News Thursday 21 December 1995, page 1</ref> The new M5 junction was partly opened at the same time, being fully opened on 4 March 1996.<ref>Gloucester Citizen Saturday 9 March 1996, page 5</ref>

Birdlip bypass

In October 1986, the government decided to build a £1.5m bypass to avoid Birdlip village, a few miles east of Brockworth. The bypass would be Template:Convert long;<ref>Gloucester Citizen Tuesday 7 October 1986, page 1</ref><ref>Western Daily Press Wednesday 8 October 1986, page 19</ref> work was to start in early 1988 and be completed by 1990.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Thursday 9 October 1986, page 16</ref> Biwater Construction were given the £1.9m contract in January 1988, to take 18 months.<ref>Cheltenham News Thursday 21 January 1988, page 7</ref> Work started in late February 1988,<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Friday 4 March 1988</ref> to be finished by January 1989.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Thursday 23 June 1988, page 17</ref>

The bypass opened on 12 December 1988, eight months early.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Saturday 10 December 1988, page 5</ref> The official opening was on 12 April 1989.<ref>Gloucestershire Echo Thursday 6 April 1989, page 17</ref><ref>Gloucestershire Echo Friday 14 April 1989, page 10</ref>

Route

Streatley to Gloucester (M5)

The road runs north-west from Streatley at its junction with the A329 (between Reading and Wallingford) then turns west to Wantage, over the picturesque<ref>Template:Cite book [see also vol. 2 ]</ref> Berkshire Downs. In Wantage, it negotiates the market place (around King Alfred's statue). Soon after leaving Wantage it passes through East Challow village and runs north-west to Faringdon, via Stanford in the Vale. It leads on to Lechlade, where it crosses the River Thames at St John's Bridge. It then runs past the Cotswold Water Park, through the bottleneck of Fairford to Cirencester, and thence to Gloucester.

The Template:Convert £2.4m single-carriageway Birdlip bypass opened in December 1988. This point, before the Air Balloon roundabout, has a grand vista of the Severn Valley. After the roundabout and the (now demolished) Air Balloon pub, the road turns sharply and there is a steep downward gradient. This is a bottleneck at peak times, and plans for a dual-carriageway section here were included in a roads expansion programme pledged during the government's 2014 Autumn Statement for delivery during the following 5–8 years.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Update inline

From the start of the Cirencester bypass as far as Gloucester, the A417 forms part of a dual-carriageway route (A419/A417) connecting the M4 (junction 15) with the M5 at Gloucester (junction 11A). At the A429 roundabout on the older Cirencester bypass, the A417 follows the A429 north for Template:Convert, then resumes when it joins the newer bypass (which is also the A417). The Template:Convert Cirencester & Stratton Bypass opened on 9 December 1997. This route carries traffic between the ports of the south coast and the industrial Midlands. The Template:Convert dual-carriageway north of Stratton to Nettleton opened on 16 January 1998. Template:Citation needed The roundabout at the end of this section often has congestion during peak hours. Template:Citation needed

Construction work to complete the 'missing link' between the end of the Brockworth Bypass and Cowley Roundabout began in 2023, with an expected completion date of Spring 2027. At the foot of the hill, the Template:Convert £36m Brockworth Bypass opened in December 1995, and included creation of junction 11a of the M5.

Gloucester (M5) to Hope under Dinmore

Through Gloucester, the road overlaps the A40 Gloucester northern bypass, and from a roundabout at the end of the bypass the road goes north-west through the village of Maisemore, past Hartpury College, then through the village of Hartpury. The A417 then passes through the twin villages of Corse and Staunton. It crosses the M50 Ross Spur motorway at junction 2, then meets the Ledbury bypass, where the road noticeably widens out, and has many large roundabouts. Between Gloucester and Ledbury there are many changes of speed limit. From Ledbury it goes west, overlapping the A438, then at a set of traffic lights known as the Trumpet crossroads, the A417 goes north-west along a more high-hedged, narrow road. It meets the A49 at a wide junction at Hope under Dinmore just south of Leominster.

Junctions

A417 (T)
Northbound exits	Junction	Southbound exits
Ross A40, Ledbury (A417), Chepstow (A48) Cheltenham A40, Tewkesbury, Bristol (M5)	Elm Bridge Court	Start of A417 (T)
Gloucester (A38)	Corinium Avenue Roundabout	Gloucester (A38)
Local routes	Zoons Court Roundabout	Local routes
The Midlands M5	M5 J11A	Template:No2No exit or access
Template:No2The South West Bristol (M5), Gloucester Business Park Exit only		The SOUTH WEST Bristol (M5)
Cheltenham, Stroud A46	Primrose Vale	Cheltenham, Stroud A46
Stow on the Wold A436, Oxford (A40), Cheltenham (East) (A435)	Air Balloon Roundabout	Stow on the Wold A436, Oxford (A40)
Cowley, Caudle Green, Brimpsfield	Cowley Roundabout	Cowley, Caudle Green, Brimpsfield
Syde, Winstone, Elkstone	Winstone Junction	Syde, Winstone, Elkstone
Daglingworth, Bagendon, Perrott's Brook	Daglingworth Junction	Stratton, Daglingworth, Bagendon, Perrott's Brook
Cirencester, Stow A429, Burford (B4425)	Cirencester North Interchange	Cirencester, Stow A429, Lechdale (A417)
Start of A417 (T)	Cirencester South Interchange	Template:No2Access only
Template:No2Cirencester Industrial Area, Stroud A419 Exit only		Road becomes A419 (T) to Swindon See also British road numbering scheme References External links National Highways: A417 Missing Link scheme Kier / National Highways: A417 Missing Link progress, events, closures and diversions