Cotswold pub to be flattened for A417 Missing Link scheme
A COTSWOLD pub will be flattened to allow for the construction of the new multi-million pound upgrade of the A417.
The landmark Air Balloon pub has stood in the village of Birdlip for hundreds of years.
Situated on a hairpin corner of the Air Balloon roundabout, the welcome stop was originally two ale houses and provided for the needs of the travellers before the days of licensing. Now it is a popular and busy pub and restaurant.
The construction of the £460million ‘Missing Link’ project, a major road upgrade of the A417 between Gloucester and Swindon, will see the demolition of the pub. The area getting the upgrade is a three-mile stretch of single-lane carriageway on the A417 between the Brockworth bypass and Cowley roundabout in Gloucestershire.
National Highways says upgrading the road was of critical importance to the region, as on an average day there are approximately 40,000 vehicles that use it. And it is hoped it will provide some much-needed relief to the overly-congested route.
But while the loss of the pub would result in a ‘slight adverse effect’, according to Government decision papers, it was ‘unavoidable’ that it would be flattened because of the proposed route of the upgrade. On Wednesday, Transport Minister Huw Merriman approved the £460m scheme which is hoped to improve the connection between two dual carriageway sections of the A417 at Brockworth and Cowley, and links between the M4 and M5.
There has been a pub on the site of the Air Balloon for at least 230 years. The pub takes its name from pioneering balloon flights that took place on the Cotswold escarpment in 1784.