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£500,000 to get traffic moving through M5 junction 12,
Quedgeley
01 April 2010
The South West Regional Development Agency (RDA) has stepped in
with £500,000 in funding to fast-track much needed improvements to
junction 12 of the M5, South of Gloucester.
This is one of the most congested junctions on the M5 running
through the South West and at peak times traffic regularly queues
back down the slip road and onto the motorway.
The Highway's Agency will install traffic lights to regulate
traffic flows across the junction and increase capacity by widening
the sliproads. Two new segregated lanes will also be created to
cater for the heaviest traffic movements on the northbound
Gloucester approach and exit.
The £3 million improvement scheme will ensure the junction can
cope with increased traffic to and from Gloucester Quays (the
city’s £400 million new retail outlet development) and the new
housing developments of Kingsway (Quedgeley) and Hunts Grove.
The investment has come from the South West RDA’s Regional
Infrastructure Fund, which provides capital at the start of a
project so major infrastructure work can get underway. Most of the
funding for the roadworks comes from the developers of these sites,
and is collected by the County Council, but the final payment is
tied to a start on site at Hunts Grove. Recent economic conditions
mean that progress on this development has been held up so the
Regional Infrastructure Fund has plugged the funding gap and
enabled the much needed junction improvements to go ahead. The
capital will be repaid by the developer once their scheme is
underway.
Ian Piper, Director of Development and Regeneration at the South
West RDA said:
“There has been considerable public and private investment in
the regeneration of central Gloucester and it is important that the
quality of links to the national motorway network keep pace, to
ensure that Gloucester reaps the benefits of that investment.
Having traffic queuing back onto the motorway is dangerous and bad
for business.
“Using the Regional Infrastructure Fund means the junction
improvement work will start late summer instead of having to wait
for funds from the developers, which can take years.
“What’s more, the Regional Infrastructure Fund investment is
repaid and then recycled which means the money can be used again
and again to bring forward other worthwhile schemes throughout the
South West.”
The Regional Infrastructure Fund exists to help bring forward
new development that can’t proceed without upfront investment in
key infrastructure. The fund removes the uncertainty and allows
development to proceed. It then captures the contributions from
developers toward the infrastructure improvements and is re-cycled
within the Fund.
Notes to Editors
1. More information on the Regional
Infrastructure Fund is available.
2. The work at junction 12, M5 is expected to be completed in
early 2011.
3. The South West RDA works for and promotes a modern, stronger
and more resilient economy across South West England. Our work
involves creating better jobs, successful businesses, more
prosperous cities, towns and villages within an economy that uses
less carbon and will still be thriving in 20, 50 and 100 years
time.
For media enquiries, contact Kierstan Lowe or Sue Amiel at
Spirit Public Relations
klowe@spiritpublicrelations.co.uk
samiel@spiritpublicrelations.co.uk
0117 944 1415
www.spiritpublicrelations.co.uk