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southcotswoldramblers.org.uk

A417 Footpath Diversion plans 2014

Back If you have ever walked the Cotswold Way from Chipping Campden south to Bath, you will surely remember crossing the A417 opposite the Air Balloon Inn, with two lanes of traffic to cross to the central reservation, appearing suddenly from the bend coming uphill towards the roundabout. And if you've ever done the Gloucestershire Way crossing the 4 lane wide road further on up past the pub, you will have taken your life in your hands to cross there. A big campaign has been building up, led by Gloucestershire County Council, to get in the queue to have £250m of Government money to improve the road. See the site here http://a417missinglink.co.uk/ It explains all the reasons for improvement, eg safety, delays, air quality etc but no mention of footpaths!
This is the situation at the moment (2014). As Ramblers, we have spent the last two months trying to find out what plans are in place for provision of safe crossings for the National Trail the Cotswold Way and the Regional Trail the Gloucestershire Way. Initial plans have just arrived. I have had to copy the maps from very large files, so sorry if the text is a little hard to read. Here are the three maps sent to me from Glos CC recently showing old and suggested new routes. In case you can't read the key, the new routes are shown with much shorter dashes, The Cotswold Way is green, the Gloucestershire Way is fushia pink and the shared routes of both routes is orange.
URGENT - If you wish to comment on and perhaps support these proposals, you are urged to go to http://a417missinglink.co.uk/ by the end of the month. It is vital for us as Ramblers to mention the importance of dealing with walkers' safe crossing points. The present dangerous situation cannot be allowed to continue. The new crossing points will be on the lesser roads between Birdlip and Seven Springs, not the main loop of the dual carriageway from Cirencester to Brockworth. My personal preference would be to have pedestrian controlled lights as occurs on each end of the A419 Ebley bypass. If you agree, please mention this in your comments. You will note that it is proposed to demolish the Air Balloon pub. If you are concerned about this, you could enquire if the loop could be moved a little further north to avoid this.
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The whole scheme includes a new dual carriageway all the way from Nettleton Bottom. If you do respond to http://a417missinglink.co.uk/ it would be very useful for you to let me and our committee know. It really is a numbers game to get Government funding for this scheme.
Thank you
Best wishes
Mike Garner Walks Co-ordinator
South Cotswold Ramblers.
March 2014

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