Streatley - Gloucester

It runs from Streatley

Streatley, Berkshire

Streatley is a village and civil parish on the River Thames in Berkshire, England.-Location:Streatley is about from Reading and from Oxford. It is in the Goring Gap on the River Thames and is directly across the river from the Oxfordshire village of Goring-on-Thames...

 at its junction with the A329

A329 road

The A329 is an east-west road in Southern England that runs from Wentworth in Surrey to Thame in Oxfordshire. The A329 starts at the A30 in Surrey and passes through the towns of Ascot, Bracknell, Wokingham, Earley, Reading, the village of Pangbourne, and Wallingford in Oxfordshire...

 (between Reading

Reading, Berkshire

Reading is a large town and unitary authority area in England. It is located in the Thames Valley at the confluence of the River Thames and River Kennet, and on both the Great Western Main Line railway and the M4 motorway, some west of London....

 and Wallingford) to Wantage

Wantage

Wantage is a market town and civil parish in the Vale of the White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. The town is on Letcombe Brook, about south-west of Abingdon and a similar distance west of Didcot....

, over the picturesque Berkshire Downs

Berkshire Downs

The Berkshire Downs are a range of chalk downland hills in southern England, part of the North Wessex Downs Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty...

. In Wantage, it negotiates the market place (around King Alfred's statue and thence to Faringdon

Faringdon

Faringdon is a market town in the Vale of White Horse, Oxfordshire, England. It is on the edge of the Thames Valley, between the River Thames and the Ridgeway...

, via Stanford in the Vale

Stanford in the Vale

Stanford in the Vale is a large village and civil parish about south-east of Faringdon and north-west of Wantage in the Vale of White Horse. It was part of Berkshire until the 1974 boundary changes transferred the Vale of White Horse to Oxfordshire....

 (speed-limited here to 30 miles per hour (13.4 m/s)). At Faringdon, its traditional route over Folly Hill and down through the market place has been blocked by the more recent development of the A420

A420 road

The A420 is a road between Bristol and Oxford in England. Between Swindon and Oxford it is a primary route.-Present route:Since the opening of the M4 motorway, the road is in two sections. The first section begins on Old Market Street near the centre of Bristol, it passes through Kingswood before...

. Turning left on the A420 and right at the next roundabout, through Faringdon, leads on to Lechlade

Lechlade

Lechlade, or Lechlade-on-Thames, is a town at the southern edge of the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. It is the highest point at which the River Thames is navigable. The town is named after the River Leach that joins the Thames near here....

, where it crosses the River Thames

River Thames

The River Thames flows through southern England. It is the longest river entirely in England and the second longest in the United Kingdom. While it is best known because its lower reaches flow through central London, the river flows alongside several other towns and cities, including Oxford,...

. It then runs past the Cotswold Water Park

Cotswold Water Park

The Cotswold Water Park is the United Kingdom's largest water park. It consists of 147 numbered lakeswhich were formed by allowing old gravel quarries to become filled with water.-Location:...

, through Fairford

Fairford

Fairford is a small town in Gloucestershire, England. The town lies in the Cotswolds on the River Coln, about east of Cirencester, west of Lechlade and north of Swindon. Nearby are RAF Fairford and the Cotswold Water Park.-Schools:...

 to Cirencester

Cirencester

Cirencester is a market town in east Gloucestershire, England, 93 miles west northwest of London. Cirencester lies on the River Churn, a tributary of the River Thames, and is the largest town in the Cotswold District. It is the home of the Royal Agricultural College, the oldest agricultural...

 and thence to Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

 and Ledbury

Ledbury

Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of Ledbury's most outstanding...

, to a point south of Leominster

Leominster

Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...

, where it joins the A49

A49 road

The A49 is a major road in western England, which traverses the Welsh Marches region. It runs north from Ross-on-Wye in Herefordshire via Hereford, Leominster, Ludlow, Shrewsbury and Whitchurch, then continues through central Cheshire to Warrington and Wigan before terminating at its junction with...

.

From the start of the Cirencester bypass to Gloucester, the A417 forms part of a major new dual-carriageway route (A419

A419 road

The A419 road is a primary route between Chiseldon near Swindon at junction 15 of the M4 with the A346 road, and Whitminster in Gloucestershire, England....

/A417) connecting the M4

M4 motorway

The M4 motorway links London with South Wales. It is part of the unsigned European route E30. Other major places directly accessible from M4 junctions are Reading, Swindon, Bristol, Newport, Cardiff and Swansea...

 (junction 15) with the M5

M5 motorway

The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...

 at Gloucester (junction 11A). At the A429

A429 road

The A429 is a main road in England that runs in a north-northeasterly direction from junction 17 of the M4 motorway to Coventry in the West Midlands, by way of Malmesbury, Cirencester, Stow-on-the-Wold, Moreton-in-Marsh, east of Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick, and Kenilworth.For much of its length...

 roundabout on the older Cirencester bypass, the A417 follows the A429 north for 0.5 mile (0.80467 km), where it once passed a Little Chef

Little Chef

Little Chef is a chain of roadside restaurants in the United Kingdom, founded in 1958 and owned by the UK private equity group RCapital. Little Chef's previous owners were The People's Restaurant Group Ltd., a company belonging to British catering entrepreneurs Simon Heath and Lawrence Wosskow,...

 (removed during the recent creation of the Blunsdon Bypass), then resumes when it joins the newer bypass (which is also the A417). There is a large BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

 service station here and a Texaco

Texaco

Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

 one further north near a roadside restaurant. The 6 miles (9.7 km) Cirencester & Stratton Bypass opened on December 9 1997. This route carries traffic between the ports of the south coast and the industrial Midlands. The 4 miles (6.4 km) dual-carriageway North of Stratton to Nettleton Improvement opened on January 16 1998. The roundabout at the end of this section often has congestion during peak hours.

The 2 miles (3.2 km) £2.4m single-carriageway Birdlip

Birdlip

Birdlip is a village in Cotswold District of Gloucestershire in England, in the Cotswolds Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, about south of Cheltenham and south east of Gloucester.-History:...

 Bypass opened in December 1988. This point, before the Air Balloon roundabout, has a grand vista of the Severn

River Severn

The River Severn is the longest river in Great Britain, at about , but the second longest on the British Isles, behind the River Shannon. It rises at an altitude of on Plynlimon, Ceredigion near Llanidloes, Powys, in the Cambrian Mountains of mid Wales...

 Valley. After the roundabout and the Air Balloon pub, the road turns sharply and there is a dangerously steep gradient. This is a bottleneck at peak times, and there are plans for a dual-carriageway section here. These plans however are not considered to be a regional priority so the upgrade is unlikely to be funded before 2019. A very rough googlemap of the 3 options proposed can be found here.

The 3 miles (4.8 km) £36m Brockworth Bypass opened in December 1995, and included a new junction 11a of the M5

M5 motorway

The M5 is a motorway in England. It runs from a junction with the M6 at West Bromwich near Birmingham to Exeter in Devon. Heading south-west, the M5 runs east of West Bromwich and west of Birmingham through Sandwell Valley...

.

Gloucester (M5) - Hope under Dinmore

Through Gloucester

Gloucester

Gloucester is a city, district and county town of Gloucestershire in the South West region of England. Gloucester lies close to the Welsh border, and on the River Severn, approximately north-east of Bristol, and south-southwest of Birmingham....

, the road overlaps the A40

A40 road

The A40 is a major trunk road connecting London to Fishguard, Wales and officially called The London to Fishguard Trunk Road in all legal documents and Acts...

 Gloucester northern bypass past a large Shell

Royal Dutch Shell

Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...

 petrol station, and from the end of this bypass, at a roundabout, the road goes north-west through the village of Maisemore

Maisemore

Maisemore is a village and civil parish in Gloucestershire, England. It lies on the A417 road 2.5 miles northwest of Gloucester, on the west bank of the River Severn. In the 2001 census the parish had a population of 488. There is a church, dedicated to St Giles.Maisemore Bridge connects the...

, past Hartpury College

Hartpury College

Hartpury College is a further education college and associate faculty of the University of the West of England situated in the village of Hartpury, Gloucestershire.-History:...

, then through the village Hartpury

Hartpury

Hartpury is a rural parish of with some 270 homes and a population of about 700. It is situated about north of the city of Gloucester, England. Geographically it lies within the Leadon Vale; administratively it is part of the Forest of Dean....

 and then past a BP

BP

BP p.l.c. is a global oil and gas company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the third-largest energy company and fourth-largest company in the world measured by revenues and one of the six oil and gas "supermajors"...

 petrol station. The A417 then passes through the twin villages of Corse

Corse, Gloucestershire

Corse is a village in the English county of Gloucestershire.St Margarets Church is mainly 14th century. Corse Court is mediaeval.The settlement of Snig's End, about 1½ miles from the village, was the site of a settlement for industrial workers under the auspices of the National Land Company in...

 and Staunton

Staunton, Gloucestershire

Staunton is the name of two different villages in the Forest of Dean in west Gloucestershire, England.This entry is for the one near Coleford...

. It crosses the M50 Ross Spur

M50 motorway (Great Britain)

The M50 is a motorway in Gloucestershire, Worcestershire and Herefordshire, England. It is long and is sometimes referred to as the Ross Spur. It is the only motorway-class road in Herefordshire.-Route:...

 motorway at junction 2, then meets the Ledbury

Ledbury

Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of Ledbury's most outstanding...

 bypass, where the road noticeably widens out, and has many large roundabouts. Between Gloucester and Ledbury they are many changes of speed limit

Speed limit

Road speed limits are used in most countries to regulate the speed of road vehicles. Speed limits may define maximum , minimum or no speed limit and are normally indicated using a traffic sign...

. From Ledbury

Ledbury

Ledbury is a town in Herefordshire, England, lying east of Hereford, and south of the Malvern Hills.Today, Ledbury is a thriving market town in rural England. The town has a large number of timber framed buildings, in particular along Church Lane and High Street. One of Ledbury's most outstanding...

, it goes west, overlapping the A438, then at a set of traffic lights next to a Texaco

Texaco

Texaco is the name of an American oil retail brand. Its flagship product is its fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owns the Havoline motor oil brand....

 petrol station, known as the Trumpet

Trumpet, Herefordshire

Trumpet or The Trumpet is a village in Herefordshire, England. The village is named after the timber-framed Trumpet Inn.The inn is located at a major crossroads of the A438 and A417/A4172 from where:* the City of Hereford is to the west on the A438...

 Crossroad, the road goes north-west along a yet more high-hedged, narrow road. It meets the A49 at a wide junction just south of Leominster

Leominster

Leominster is a market town in Herefordshire, England, located approximately north of the city of Hereford and south of Ludlow, at...

, opposite an Esso

Esso

Esso is an international trade name for ExxonMobil and its related companies. Pronounced , it is derived from the initials of the pre-1911 Standard Oil, and as such became the focus of much litigation and regulatory restriction in the United States. In 1972, it was largely replaced in the U.S. by...

 petrol station and a Little Chef at Hope under Dinmore

Hope under Dinmore

Hope under Dinmore is a village in Herefordshire, England, on the A49 road, about 4 miles south of Leominster and 9 miles north of Hereford. The Newport-to-Shrewsbury railway line tunnels under Dinmore through the split-level 1,051-yard long Dinmore Tunnel....

.

History

When the A417 was first designated in 1922, it ran only from Streatley to Cirencester. Before the war it was extended to Gloucester, on the former route of the A419

A419 road

The A419 road is a primary route between Chiseldon near Swindon at junction 15 of the M4 with the A346 road, and Whitminster in Gloucestershire, England....

, and on to Ledbury and Hope under Dinmore.