Wiltshire: Crucial £30m road construction will go over budget

A road crucial for connecting a new housing development will be delayed and run over budget, councillors are told.

The Southern Connector Road, in Swindon, is under construction and will serve 8,000 homes to be built east of the A419.

The 1.5 mile (2.4km) length of the two-lane highway was due to be funded by the government at a cost £30m.

But delays and cost increases mean that Swindon Borough Council might have to spend up to £10m on the scheme.

The road will support the increase in traffic caused by the New Eastern Villages expansion scheme.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS), a review of the project by the council's auditors raised the alarm.

"The Southern Connector Road was anticipated to be fully funded through external grants," it said.

"As of December 2022 the Auditor has identified a potential funding gap of at least £5m."

It also said that confidence in achieving an August 2022 completion was low.

Current projections were for a December 2022 completion, and even that would "still be challenging" it said.

The council's corporate director of strategic planning and growth, Richard Bell, said to the committee: "You might have thought that building a new road across green fields might be easier and cheaper than redeveloping existing roads.

"But that hasn't been the case."

The road will sit between South Marston and the Commonhead Roundabout.

The borough council's plan for the road, and many other of its road schemes in eastern Swindon, such as the White Hart roundabout and Oxford Road improvements have been scheduled to be completed before the houses in the New Eastern Villages expansion are built.

"Work has been undertaken to investigate how the additional costs of the Southern Connector Road can be mitigated," Mr Bell said.

"We are working with Homes England to amend the Housing Infrastructure Fund agreement and are looking to see if monies we would receive when the homes are built can be brought forward and used now."

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