Bike park reopening after A417 closures

Owners of a bike park say they are excited to be reopening after an "incredibly stressful" year.

The FlyUp 417 bike park at Witcombe, Gloucestershire, has faced extended closures due to works on the nearby A417 Missing Link project.

National Highways are building a new dual carriageway to replace an accident hotspot, close to the Air Balloon Roundabout.

Steve Foxley, A417 project director for National Highways, said they had worked to "minimise as far as practically possible" the impact on the bike park.

Mr Foxley said the majority of the works on the FlyUp estate had now been completed, with seasonal landscape planting due to take place later in the year.

Angela Ruskin, 46, who owns the bike park with her 48-year-old husband Simon, said she had "mixed emotions" on the reopening.

"Obviously we're so excited to see customers back on the hillside, doing what we opened the place for - getting people back on their bikes.

"It's just been incredibly stressful."

Ms Ruskin said they had carried out site upgrades during the closures, including new toilets and will be doing other redevelopments.

National Highways started the major A417 Missing Link scheme in March, building a new road scheme between Gloucester, Cirencester and Swindon to reduce traffic congestion.

The authority said the revamped route was needed after "frequent and unpredictable" congestion and serious crashes.

However, Ms Ruskin said she the new access road, which she described as a single track with a blind corner and built as part of the project, has "not been designed in the best way".

"We do need people to be aware of all the signage around the site and be patient coming in and understand we have had no say in their design," she said.

Follow BBC Gloucestershire on Facebook, X and Instagram. Send your story ideas to us on email or via WhatsApp on 0800 313 4630.