Building the A417 Missing Link road project

Peter Haddock is following the construction of the £460m National Highways A417 ‘Missing Link’ project from start to finish in what will be an epic series.  

For our first video of many, Peter talked to Steve Foxley, Project Director for National Highways, who gave me an overview of the project. 

Steve: “This is a major environmentally led project for National Highways to improve journey times and safety for all users. 

“It will also support the local and regional economy by transforming a single-lane carriageway, a notorious bottleneck on the A417, into a new 3.4-mile dual carriageway.

“To build the new road whilst minimising disruption and keeping two lanes open as traffic comes up the hill, the majority of the project will be constructed offline to keep traffic moving.”

With around 1.5 million cubic metres of earth to be moved in its construction phase. And it will use the very latest equipment, technologies and 3D modelling to deliver it. 

An ‘Earthmovers Dream’ project will see a 16-metre cut at the bottom of the hill and just over a 16-metre fill in Shab Valley.

This will then house the main interchange link from the A417 to the A436 towards Oxford and the B4070 towards Birdlip Village.

The project is being managed by Tier 1 contractor Kier Transportation, who we will hear from throughout the series, with Construction Manager, Mark Sabatto up next. 

It’s already been using cutting edge technologies with survey specialist Severn Partnership using Leica Geosystems ATV mounted ground penetrating radar. 

And Walters, the main earthworks contractor, has been helping with the archaeology and ecology (more to come on this) before it commences the main earthworks imminently.

Peter added: “This is the most exciting project I have been involved with to date, and I hope to give everyone a real insight into what is involved in building a road from start to finish.”

You will also be able to follow this journey on this site.