Senior figures from every agency involved in the delivery of the £23.6 million West Cheltenham Transport Improvement Scheme have gathered to mark its completion and champion what it means for Gloucestershire.
The county’s local enterprise partnership GFirst LEP secured the money for the scheme, its largest investment to date, from the government’s Growth Deal fund in February 2023.
From there it handed over to Gloucestershire County Council’s highways department, which carried out the work to provide better cycleways into Cheltenham, alleviate traffic congestion and free-up employment land.
The scheme paves the way for the significant Golden Valley Development, which will see £400 million of investment creating a cyber business park, 11,000 jobs and 4,000 new homes to the West of Cheltenham.
Tim Atkins, managing director place and growth at Cheltenham Borough Council, said: ‘These critical infrastructure improvements are the first major step in the Golden Valley Development, enabling the delivery of the National Cyber Innovation Centre at the heart of its first phase.
‘In particular, the work done to improve journeys for active transport users will be invaluable as part of the Golden Valley Garden Community we will build here in west Cheltenham.’
David Owen CEO of GFirst LEP, said: ‘The cyber-tech sector even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic offered the county huge potential, but moving forward, the sector will be even more important.’
GFirst LEP and project partners, Gloucestershire County Council, Atkins Ltd, Alun Griffiths Ltd, Knights Brown Construction Ltd and Cheltenham Borough Council came together to formally mark the completion of the West Cheltenham Transport Improvement Scheme on Monday, 6 June.
The funding has delivered improvements to the transport network along the A40 corridor between M5 Junction 11 and the Benhall Roundabout near to GCHQ, with cycling and walking infrastructure improvements linking all the way to Lansdown Rail Bridge.
