M5 Junction 9 and A46 (Ashchurch) Transport Scheme

Scheme overview

The M5 Junction 9 and A46 (Ashchurch) Transport Scheme is a proposal to develop a new M5 junction 9a to the south of Tewkesbury and re-route a section of the A46 between the M5 and Teddington Hands roundabout. The scheme aims to help solve long standing traffic issues and provide vital infrastructure to meet existing and future needs, including improving journey times and reliability for journeys between the M5 Junction 9 and Teddington Hands roundabout.

Why the scheme is needed

The A46 through Ashchurch currently suffers from long-standing challenges associated with high levels of traffic and congestion. This has a direct impact on the daily lives of local residents and businesses, whilst also resulting in road safety concerns. During peak periods, there are considerable delays on the A46 between M5 Junction 9 and Teddington Hands roundabout. There are significant delays and long queues at a number of key junctions at peak times, including:

• Teddington Hands roundabout,
• Aston Cross junction
• Loverose Way
• M5 Junction 9
• Shannon Way 

These problems are expected to worsen as a result of approved housing and retail developments being delivered in the Ashchurch and Tewkesbury areas, and more long-distance traffic (including heavy goods vehicles) using the A46 to travel between the Midlands and the West Country.

Tewkesbury Borough Council is also advancing its Garden Communities programme. The programme’s aim is to ensure that housing and employment opportunities are managed in the best possible way by enabling comprehensively planned, connected communities designed to encourage good growth, helping new and existing residents to enjoy the best possible quality of life.

Diverting long-distance traffic - including heavy goods vehicles - from the A46 through Ashchurch onto a new road will be key to the successful development of the Tewkesbury Garden Communities. This will provide capacity for additional housing and employment opportunities, and crucially provide benefits to the existing communities, offering a more pleasant environment for residents and greater opportunities for walking, cycling and sustainable travel along the existing road.

Scheme benefits

The scheme would provide vital infrastructure to support both existing and future communities.

Upon opening, the scheme would provide a significant reduction in traffic using the existing A46, with quicker and more reliable journeys for both local and long-distance traffic. The scheme would also offer immediate safety and community benefits along the existing route. The scheme would support environmental improvements to the existing A46 route through Ashchurch to meet local needs by reducing vehicle speeds and making it more pleasant to walk and cycle.  Any new local developments could also be better accommodated without adding to congestion levels.

In the longer-term, the scheme would support and enable the aim of the Tewkesbury Garden Communities programme. This aim sets out to ensure that housing and employment opportunities are managed in such a way that both new and existing communities enjoy the best possible quality of life, through well-designed environments, more walking, cycling and public transport facilities, and better-connected communities.

The scheme would sustain the reduction in long-distance traffic including heavy goods vehicles using the existing A46, enabling a more pleasant environment. The new M5 junction and A46 would offer an effective bypass route with quicker and more reliable journeys between the M5 and Evesham. The potential junction at Seven Bends would provide a new southern access to the Ashchurch area, reducing the need for journeys to be made along the old A46 route

The scheme would also reduce the risk of traffic queuing back to the M5 from the Junction 9 roundabout. This was a safety concern prior to the recent M5 northbound off slip road widening but may re-emerge due to future traffic growth.

Scheme Timeline

In January 2020, we applied to the Department for Transport (DfT) for ‘Large Local Majors Scheme’ funding to finance the proposed scheme. Since then, we have developed an initial business case called a Strategic Outline Case (SOC) and worked closely with key stakeholders, including National Highways, to develop the potential route options.

In March 2021 and March 2022, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (now Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government) announced awards of £1.5 million per year (total £3m) to support the development of the scheme.

In 2021 and 2022, we undertook environmental surveys in the areas surrounding the scheme. We reviewed existing walking and cycling facilities and opportunities for future improvements. This work has helped to inform the potential route options and highlighted opportunities to make improvements.

In September 2022, the Strategic Outline Case was submitted to the DfT. The submission requested funding to develop an Outline Business Case (the next step before Full Business Case development) which would include recommendations for a preferred route option.

We submitted further information to DfT in early 2024, including the potential route options that are now being presented for public engagement.

In July 2024, the new Government announced an internal review of the Department for Transport’s capital spend portfolio to support a long-term strategy for transport. The approval of the Strategic Outline Case is dependent on the outcome of this review and is needed before the scheme can progress to the next stages of development.

As the scheme is in an early stage of development, the exact location of the new road and details of the junction are yet be decided.  However, technical work to assess suitability and identify a range of potential scheme options has now been completed.

Public engagement exercise

We carried out a public engagement exercise from Monday 7 October to Monday 2 December 2024, to share the potential route options and seek the views of stakeholders, local communities, businesses and the public.

This was the first stage of public engagement on potential route options. A preferred option will only be identified following future public consultations. The potential route options are subject to refinement following feedback received during the public engagement exercise. You can still view the potential route options and public engagement materials on the scheme’s Have Your Say webpage.

The public engagement exercise forms part of the early development of the M5 Junction J9 and A46 (Ashchurch) Transport Scheme, which will rely on securing funding from Government to deliver the scheme. At this early stage, no commitment can therefore be given to funding being secured for the scheme delivery.

Contact us

We are committed to working with stakeholders, local communities, businesses and members of the public to share information and gather your feedback about the scheme. In addition to having the opportunity to comment on the potential route options during the public engagement exercise, there will also be further opportunities during future consultations.

In the meantime, you can email us at M5Junction9@atkinsrealis.com if you have any questions about the scheme.

Further information

More information about the scheme and the potential route options can be found in our latest set of Frequently Asked Questions

If you have questions and require further information about Tewkesbury Garden Communities programme, you can email the Garden Communities team at
gardencommunities@tewkesbury.gov.uk or telephone on 01684 272099