‘£435m for a 5-minute saving’

torate rather than by local councillors.

This process is expected to take around 18 months, including six months of public hearings. If this is given the go-ahead, work is expected to start on the road at the end of 2020 or early 2021. The road will take three years to build so it should be ready by around 2024, if all goes to plan.

So far not a penny of the £435 million cost has been guaranteed, but highways chiefs are confident the Chancellor will back the scheme in his Autumn Statement. They say the fact that he has given permission for the route to be announced and money for the detailed design plans to be drawn up, demonstrates the level of support.

Highway chiefs expect the plans to be included in the second £15 billion Road Investment Strategy, which will cover the period between 2020 and 2025, to be announced later this year. However the Missing Link is only one of of several nationally important projects going forward so if the Chancellor can’t afford them all, he might have to prioritise. Also, between now and when the road starts there could be a general election and a different minister with different priorities.

There’s still a lot of ifs and buts before the Tarmac is laid but highways chiefs say the case is so strong they are confident it will go ahead.

Senior project manager Mike Goddard stresses that the current A417 will stay open while the new road is being built to keep disruption to a minimum. But there is likely to be a lower speed limit to protect construction workers and some overnight closures while heavy equipment is brought in.

Drivers on the Crickley Hill section face the prospect of long delays while an extra lane is installed on that section of road. Engineers have looked at different ways of bringing traffic up the escarpment but the steep hill is the only one that works, so the current highway will have to be widened.

This will probably mean narrow lanes and a contraflow system for a long period of time, highways chiefs point out there are often long delays on the road already because if breakdowns on the hill and a poor safety record.

It is too soon to say when because they do not know yet whether work will start at the Air Balloon or the Cowley roundabout.

No doubt environmentalists who oppose the new road will fight it all the way. Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust say the new road will have a significant impact on two of its wildlife sites, Crickley Hill and Barrow Wake.

Councillor Rachel Smith (Minchinhampton), leader of the Green group, says we should not be building roads in the middle of a a climate crisis.

“The earlier evidence we have seen from Highways England suggested that this route would increase emissions, lead to worse traffic and air quality on feeder routes through our local towns, and would have a pitifully small return on investment, if any at all,” she said.