By Carmelo Garcia – Local Democracy Reporter
Highways chiefs have revealed how much it will cost and estimated how many months it will take to fix a busy Gloucestershire road.
A landslip on the B4234 New Road between Lydney and Whitecroft led to the road becoming unstable and it was partially closed after an inspection in November 2023.
Temporary traffic lights were installed at the more than 54 yards long stretch after inspections found several defects, including carriageway cracking, slope instability, failure of the toe retaining wall, and drainage blockages.
Highways chiefs at Gloucestershire County Council have considered a range of options to fix the road.
And their preferred solution is now a sheet piled retaining wall to stabilise the slope to ensure long-term structural integrity and road safety.
The total project is estimated to cost £2.35m, which includes the emergency reactive works following the landslip, the investigation and the project’s design.
Cabinet today (September 17) agreed to go out to procurement the construction contract which is estimated at £1.2m.
Highways maintenance cabinet member Joe Harris (LD, Cirencester Park) presented the report at today’s (September 17) meeting which is “about fixing a serious problem”.
He said part of the hillside has slipped and the road has become unstable.
“We’ve already had to put temporary traffic lights in place which have been there for a considerable length of time,” he said.
“The plan is to build a strong retaining wall to stabilise the slope and make the roads safe for the long term.
“To do this, we need the cabinet’s agreement today to go out to tender, appoint a contractor, and put in place any temporary traffic orders while the work is carried out.
“And the work will cost around £1.2 million, and I’m pleased to say we’ve secured funding from the Department for Transport, so the work won’t cost this council anything.
“Construction should start in January, take about eight months.
“Lydney was the very first place that I visited in the county when I took on the cabinet role, and I know from meeting local people there how important it is to residents and businesses that we get this solved.
“There’s also a significant investment in the Forest of Dean by this Liberal Democrat administration.
“Often people in the Forest of Dean feel left behind.
“It has some of the worst pockets of deprivation in not only the county but the country, something that this council needs to show leadership on in order to address.”