Wichelstowe southern access scheme

This new access road is a requirement of the planning permission for the wider Wichelstowe site, so is necessary for the completion of the Wichelstowe development. With the development of 4,500 new houses, the creation of a new access road into Wichelstowe will divert some of this additional traffic away from Junction 16, reducing congestion here and in other areas of the town.

A number of factors including:

• construction costs and risk
• impact on transport,
• environmental impacts
• visual impact
• programmes that have been considered to best inform a preferred design that can deliver value for money

The M4 sits high above the surrounding fields at this location so with the chosen design, there was less disruption to motorway traffic than building up the approaching road and lifting a bridge to sit across the M4. The underpass was constructed in phases with minimal disruption.

Apart from soil already on site taken during the construction of the haul road, soil was brought in from other Griffiths projects within the South West region. Stone was been delivered from the Tarmac Quarry at Stancombe, near Bristol. Griffiths are part of the Tarmac Group and Stancombe is the regional headquarters.

Around the site, noise bunds (small mounds to reduce noise pollution) have been planted with trees and the area has been seeded to encourage future growth and new hedges have been planted. 

This tree and hedgerow planting will enhance key wildlife corridors, seed the natural regeneration of scrub and woodland and create oak tree groves to frame the road.

Old roads no longer in use have also been broken up to allow re-wilding. 

The Western receptor site was created prior to the scheme to home translocated wildlife. It features tussocky grassland, new woodland, hedgerow and three new ecology ponds. So far, we have translocated 40 great crested newts, 670 slowworms, 13 grass snakes and 559 toads.

In addition, two existing ponds and four new ecology ponds on either side of the road, were aligned to promote connectivity via ecology underpasses. Tree and hedgerow planting will enhance key wildlife corridors, seed the natural regeneration of scrub and woodland and create oak tree groves to frame the road.

Wildlife connectivity provisions have also been implemented on site to allow wildlife to safely move around.

These include:

• Wildlife sensitive lighting for nocturnal species such as bats, badgers and otters
• Hop-overs using crowns of trees to encourage bats to fly over the road in line with hedgerows
• Two ecology underpasses to allow badgers, amphibians, reptiles, water vole and otters to pass under the road between wildlife areas
• Wildlife kerbs and swales to reduce the likelihood of amphibians getting trapped in the drainage system or on the road
• New bat roost boxes on trees

Throughout the project, we continued to compare wildlife surveys before and during the work to ensure the success of our rewilding and the protection of the local wildlife.

The new access road will accommodate pedestrians and cyclists so they can move from Wharf Road and Hay Lane through the new underpass below the M4. The canal culvert will be constructed under the newly realigned section of Wharf Road to be completed and connected by the Wiltshire and Berkshire Canal Trust, at a future date.