MULTI-MILLION pound improvements to the M40 junction at Gaydon are underway.
The £11.6million Highways Agency project to ease congestion at junction 12 started on Wednesday (March 18) and is expected to take around a year to complete.
The scheme will see the southbound exit slip road lengthened, traffic lights installed on the junction, and improvements to the northbound entry and exit slip roads.
Highways Agency project manager, Shah Hussain, said: “Junction 12 of the M40 is currently very busy, especially at peak times. It’s not uncommon to see queues forming in the morning – and this is something we want to tackle with this scheme.
“Our work will boost the flow of traffic around this junction, reducing queues and improving journeys. We’re looking forward to delivering noticeable improvements.”
The Highways Agency said it had planned the work to cause minimum disruption.
“We’ve focused our approach to this scheme on keeping traffic flowing.” added Mr Hussain. “We won’t start work until after the morning peak, and we will finish well before the evening peak.
“We don’t anticipate that the construction work will have a great effect on traffic – but we will be monitoring the effects throughout and speaking to local people and businesses to check.
“There will be temporary traffic lights and some reduced speed limits: these are necessary to help keep traffic flowing, and ensure our workforce stays safe as we carry out this project.”
Work at the junction, in particular on the slip roads, will take place before 6am and after 9am on weekdays, and will finish by 4pm, to mitigate the effect on peak traffic. Work will also carry on at weekends.
The Highways Agency scheme to improve junction 12 will be complemented by work to create a dual carriageway on the B4451, currently being undertaken by Warwickshire County Council.
