GLOUCESTERSHIRE County Council is calling on more people to get behind a campaign to convince the government that the A417 loop is the only option to fix the ‘missing link’.

The fight for funding started in January this year and has quickly gathered pace with more than 6,000 people already signed up.

Today, Wednesday, the county council is reminding people why the A417 loop is the best solution and why we need the government to stump up the full £255 million to improve the road.

The council has also been looking to MPs in Westminster to help them have their voice heard and has produced a pledge form outlining the problems, in a bid to encourage more signatures.

Nine per cent of all fatalities on Gloucestershire’s roads in 2013 happened on this 5km of the A417.

It is hoped that the vital A417 loop solution will help reduce number of accidents and lead to less congestion and pollution.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, leader of GCC, said: “The government has previously investigated a large number of different solutions for the missing link, but their own work concluded that the A417 Loop was the only answer.

“Lower cost options, perhaps concentrating only on the Air Balloon roundabout, would only solve a small part of the problem.

“The Highways Agency’s own study showed that the full A417 Loop is the only real solution.

“We want to remind people across Gloucestershire why we started this campaign in the first place and the urgent need to act now.”

The missing link is a 5km stretch of single carriageway on the A417 trunk road with the remaining route between the M4 at Swindon and M5 at Gloucester being dual carriageway.

It is a significant bottleneck and has the worst average vehicle delay of all strategic routes in the South West.

The Air Balloon roundabout, which is a key part of the missing link section, is forecasted to be running 30 per cent over capacity by 2026.

The route already sees more than 34,000 vehicles a day and in the past 15 years there has been more than 340 casualties following accidents on that stretch of road.

Mark Owen, chairman of the FSB for the west of England and Gloucestershire, added: “The whole of the FSB region is fully behind this campaign, from Bath to the Cotswolds – many SME’s are affected by this road. Every time a business is held up on this it is costing them time and money, it’s about time something was done.

“The A417 Loop is the only real solution to the dangerous Nettleton Bottom blackspot.

"I urge all business to continue to join the campaign if they haven’t already signed up.”

Visit the website, www.a417missinglink.co.uk to pledge your support.

You can also email info@a417missinglink.co.uk and follow us on Twitter @A417loop.