£45m of vital improvements

The Government has given us more than £45m to create extra capacity on our highway network before thousands of extra homes are built in Swindon.

The funding will be used to make improvements to the White Hart Roundabout in East Swindon as well as creating a new access route into Wichelstowe to the south of the town by building a tunnel under the M4 motorway.

Find out more about how the money will be spent

Plans for M4 tunnel to go on display

Members of the public will have a chance to view the plans for the Wichelstowe Southern Access tunnel at two upcoming drop-in sessions.

The first event will take place at The Deanery CE Academy, SN1 7DA next Thursday (17 Oct) between 12noon and 4pm. Residents can see the plans at a further information session on Tuesday, 22 October between 3pm and 7pm.

Further information about the new road is available here

Potential changes to Bruce Street Bridges

Over the next few months we will be conducting a feasibility study which will look at the impact of introducing a new dedicated left-hand turn from Rodbourne Road on to Great Western Way.

It is the latest in a series of measures we are considering to reduce congestion at peak times in Rodbourne.

Read more about how we plan to unblock congestion in Rodbourne

Connecting communities

We need you to suggest names for the new footbridge over the Wilts and Berks Canal. Designed by engineers Peter Brett Associates and artist Sebastien Boyesen, the footbridge which connects Waitrose to the Wichelstowe district centre opened in July.

Suggestions can be submitted to @WichelstoweNews on Twitter or Instagram or by emailing wichelstowe@swindon.gov.uk before Monday (14 Oct).

Upgrading Mannington Roundabout

We have completed the drainage upgrade along Telford Way and the kerbline has also been completed. The contractor will be working weekends throughout October to make sure the work is completed by the end of this month.

Once the work is complete, drivers will be able to leave Mannington Retail Park via Great Western Way which will reduce traffic on the roundabout.

Find out about the Mannington improvements

We’re ready for winter

Our gritting crew have been in training over the last few weeks and are on standby to spread salt on more than 200 miles of Swindon’s priority road network over the winter.

Find out more about road gritting

Making Blunsdon safer

We have now finished work to improve safety in Blunsdon.

The Puffin crossing, traffic calming measures, vehicle-activated sign and road hatchings have all been installed in Ermin Street. We’ve also painted double yellow lines on Turnpike Road and a 20mph speed limit has been introduced in Blunsdon village.

Beat the Street is back

Swindon’s giant walking and cycling game has got off to an incredible start with residents travelling more than 93k miles within the first few weeks.

This year, the game is bigger than ever, with more Beat Boxes, new locations and 16 leaderboards, meaning there are more opportunities to win great prizes.

If you haven’t already signed up to play, you can pick up a card and map from a number of distribution points.

Find your nearest distribution point

Shining a light on charities

Throughout October and November, the lights at Greenbridge Roundabout will be shining in a glorious technicolour to support a number of charities.

See a full list of charities we are supporting

St. Pauls Drive, Covingham

The car park in St. Pauls Drive in Covingham is due to be resurfaced and relined from Friday,18 to Monday, 21 October. The car park will be completely closed while the work takes place.

Upgrading signage along Whitehill Way

We have begun upgrading the signage along Whitehill Way, Roughmoor Way and Peatmoor Way. It’s estimated that all work will be complete by the end of the month.

While we complete this work traffic management will be in place from 9:30am-3:30pm. Drivers are advised to use alternative routes where possible.

Get cycling with Persimmon and Redrow

Persimmon and Redrow are holding a free cycling event, between 11am and 3pm on Thursday, 24 October, outside the Persimmon Marketing Suite at Badbury Park (off Homington Avenue)

  • Sign up for a free £100 resident’s cycling voucher
  • Try out bikes from local bike shops
  • Pick up free bike lights, cycling maps and backpacks
  • Bring your bike along for free safety checks

Driving at Night

As the nights draw in, we thought we would give you a few top tips for driving at night:

  • Keep windows clean to avoid increased glare and condensation.
  • Don’t dazzle others – dip your lights when faced with another road user.
  • Watch out for pedestrians, especially near pubs and clubs around closing time.

Readers’ questions

Following the last edition of Highways News, we received a number of questions about Junction 15 of the M4. We currently do not have a firm start date for this work. We will keep you updated and we will let you know as soon as we have more information from Highways England.

Have you got a question you would like to ask our Highways team? Are there any topics or subjects you would like us to cover in future editions of Highways News? Please email your comments and suggestions to communications@swindon.gov.uk and we will aim to answer them in future editions.