Roundabout on A40 will not open until spring

A roundabout that has been under construction since 2021 and has only one exit could be ready by the spring, a developer has said.

Work on the Innsworth roundabout in Gloucestershire began three years ago but is still unfinished.

Developer Robert Hitchins said they are making "every endeavour to get it open by late spring".

Planning approval was granted to build 1,300 homes for the village in 2019 along with a business park, technology park and office park.

To get to Innsworth from the A40 you have to drive through the other side of the village - despite the road to the roundabout being built.

The length of time being taken to open the roundabout, has drawn criticism from some local parish councillors.

The Chairman of Innsworth Parish Council, Graham Bocking, said he was frustrated that the road "is almost ready to go" but is still blocked.

"It's due to open with the occupation of the 300th house. It's not going to take much to get it open," he said.

Parish Councils in Twigworth and Down Hatherley want access to the roundabout when it opens but the three villages are only linked by small roads.

Chair of Twigworth Parish Council, Rick Harris, said: "We desperately need the link road, [to Innsworth, to take] some of the traffic load off the A38.

Down Hatherley Council would also like to see the roundabout reopen before any further flooding occurs.

Cllr Lesley Rooney said that, had the roundabout been open during recent floods, it could have offered an alternative route to drivers when the A38 was closed.

"All of the traffic was coming down Frogfurlong Lane and Down Hathereley Lane which isn't built to take traffic."

She added that a link road would also ease pressure on the road network.

The developers are under no obligation to produce a link road as it's not been asked for by Tewkesbury Borough Council.

Tewkesbury Borough Council said it had asked developers what infrastructure it wanted when the projects were approved.

The authority's Associate Director of Planning, Nick Bryant, pointed out upgrades were made to the A38.

He said, "improvement works to the Longford roundabout" were made "to accommodate additional traffic."

"The schedule for the delivery of infrastructure for these sites was agreed as part of the appeal process, and we understand from the developer that the Innsworth roundabout will open later this year."

A spokesperson for the developer Robert Hitchins LTD said: "Robert Hitchins is in discussion with Taylor Wimpey and we are making every endeavour to get it open by late Spring.

"This should assist considerably with traffic flow."