WORK on new duel carriageway linking the British Motor Museum at Gaydon and junction 12 of the M40 has been completed.
The new 1.5 km stretch of road – which replaces the B4100 and B4451 – took 18 months to complete and cost £10.1million.
It is the first of a number of improvements which, when complete, aims to reduce congestion, improve safety and unlock a number proposed major new development sites at Gaydon and the immediate area.
The scheme was funded equally between Warwickshire County Council, DfT Pinch Point Fund and the Regional Growth Fund via the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership.
A further £1.5m has been provided by Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) to accommodate extending the scheme to ensure there is
sufficient capacity on the road network to allow traffic to reach their site safely while JLR continue to develop its Gaydon headquarters.
This phase of the work is set to start on December 8 and take 13 months to complete.
County council transport spokesman Peter Butlin said: “The project will provide vital safety improvements on the motorway and surrounding roads and that is essential as the situation needs to be addressed to keep road users safe. “We recognise that the road, as it was, was dangerous for road users and this work, both the county council’s and Highways England’s schemes, will address that.”
Pete Richings, of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said the work was vital.
He added: “The role of the Coventry and Warwickshire Local Enterprise Partnership is to help drive growth in our economy and this project will do just that as well as improving safety on the road system in the area.
“It is vital that we allow areas and companies to achieve their potential, and ensuring that key infrastructure is in place to allow development is a key ingredient to making that happen.
“This is just the first phase of improvements which will unlock some considerable economic investment.”
