TRANSPORT Secretary Patrick McLoughlin has visited the A417 Loop to discuss improvements to dangerous 5km stretch of road.

The missing link is the last remaining bit of single carriageway between the M4 at Swindon and M5 at Gloucester, with the rest being dual carriageway.

With more than 34,000 vehicles a day, it is a significant bottleneck and has the worst average vehicle delay of all main routes in the south west.

The road has also seen more than 340 casualties in the past 15 years.

On Wednesday, July 16 the transport secretary was joined on Crickley Hill by Laurence Robertson MP, Geoffrey Clifton-Brown MP, Gloucestershire County Council’s Chief Executive Peter Bungard and Cllr Will Windsor-Clive cabinet member for planning and infrastructure for a tour of the area and to discuss the proposed A417 Loop solution.

Gloucestershire County Council (GCC) launched a campaign in January to encourage residents and businesses to back the A417 Loop - the only workable solution to the problem.

Almost 5,700 people and business have already signed up to show their support for the A417 Loop, and with year central government making their funding decision next year the council is calling for even more to show their support now while there is still time.

Cllr Will Windsor-Clive, cabinet member for planning and infrastructure, said, "Getting this dangerous and congested stretch of road upgraded is Gloucestershire County Council’s number one transport priority.

“I’m delighted to welcome Patrick McLoughlin to Gloucestershire so he can see for himself just why the Government needs to fund the A417 Loop to fix this problem."

Sign up and pledge your support for the A417 Loop at www.a417missinglink.co.uk or email info@a417missinglink.co.uk