The £372m M5 Junction 10 rebuild is under way and due spring 2029. Plus the closures dated this month and every council car park tariff in Cheltenham.
Most Cheltenham roadworks are two-day utility jobs on a residential street. One is not. The rebuild of M5 Junction 10, the town’s north-western gateway, is a £372 million scheme that began in 2026 and is not due to finish until spring 2029, and it sits on the same road, the A4019 Tewkesbury Road, that the town’s biggest housing sites will feed onto.
This page separates the thing that will still be true in three years from the things that change every Monday, and lists what is actually dated right now.
The M5 Junction 10 rebuild
Junction 10 today is a partial junction: it does not allow every movement on and off the motorway, which is why so much Cheltenham traffic is funnelled down to Junction 11. Gloucestershire County Council, as highway authority, is turning it into a full all-movements junction. According to the council’s own scheme documents, the work includes:
- Four new slip roads, replacing the existing two, so the junction works in all directions.
- Replacement of the Piffs Elm interchange bridge with two new single-span overbridges.
- A new elongated roundabout linking every approach across the new bridges, with a 50mph limit on the A4019 through it.
- Realignment and widening of the A4019 Tewkesbury Road to meet the new roundabout.
- A new underpass east of the junction for pedestrians, cyclists, horse riders and wildlife, plus a dedicated walking and cycling route through the junction itself.
- Flood works: extension of the Leigh Brook culvert under the motorway, two new attenuation basins west of the M5 and a flood storage area to the south-east.
The scheme is funded through the government’s Housing Infrastructure Fund, and the housing is the point: it is the piece of infrastructure that unlocks the 4,115-home Elms Park development at North West Cheltenham and the West Cheltenham allocation, both covered on our Cheltenham planning news page. An extra £71.5 million was confirmed in January 2026, taking the total to £372 million, and completion is scheduled for spring 2029.
For anyone using the A4019 daily, the practical read is simple: expect phased traffic management on that corridor for the next two and a half years, and treat the A40 and A46 as the reliable alternatives into town from the west and north.
What is dated right now
These are live temporary traffic orders made by Gloucestershire County Council and published as statutory notices in the Gloucestershire Echo. Dates are as notified; utility jobs regularly overrun.
| Road | Extent | Dates | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|
| Whaddon Road | Wymans Road to Prestbury Road, 330m | Various dates, 8 Aug 2026 to 29 May 2027 | Crowd movement before and after Cheltenham Town FC matches and events |
| St Pauls Road | Outside Nos 4 to 12, 25m | 08:00 10 Aug to 16:00 12 Aug 2026 | Severn Trent Water |
| Hamilton Street, Charlton Kings | Outside Nos 9 to 11, 50m | 10 to 12 Aug 2026 | New water connection |
| Post Office Lane | Crescent Terrace to Clarence Street, 110m | 08:00 17 Aug to 18:00 19 Aug 2026 | Fibre network works |
| Granley Road, Benhall | Granley Gardens to Swanswell Drive, 45m | 08:00 17 Aug to 17:00 18 Aug 2026 | Works for Network Plus |
| Public footpath ZCK/51, Charlton Kings | From footpaths ZCK/48 and ZCK/49, 58m | Extended, no reopening date given | Structural defects in the metal railway bridge |
Two of those are worth pulling out. The Whaddon Road order is not a roadworks closure at all: it is a standing order covering every Cheltenham Town home match and event at the ground for the whole 2026-27 season, with no stopping or waiting through the closure. If you park on Whaddon Road on a Saturday, check the fixture list first.
The footpath ZCK/51 closure in Charlton Kings has been extended by the Secretary of State because of structural defects in the metal railway bridge it crosses. That one has no end date attached, so treat it as closed until the council says otherwise.
The roads that matter here, closure or no closure
Cheltenham’s road network is unusually legible: four trunk approaches, a ring of inner one-ways, and almost no through routes.
- M5 Junction 10 (A4019 Tewkesbury Road) is the northern gateway and, for now, a partial junction. Under reconstruction until spring 2029.
- M5 Junction 11 (A40 Golden Valley Bypass) is the full junction and the practical M5 access for most of the town. It is also the road past Arle Court and GCHQ, so it carries the heaviest commuter flow.
- A40 east runs out through Charlton Kings towards Andoversford and Oxford. Closures on the Andoversford bypass, which the county council orders periodically, push Oxford-bound traffic onto the A436 and B-roads.
- A435 Cirencester Road is the Cotswold road south-east through Charlton Kings.
- A46 Shurdington Road / Bath Road is the southern approach from Stroud and Bath and the road most affected by growth at Leckhampton.
- B4063 Gloucester Road is the old road to Gloucester and the alternative when the A40 is blocked.
Gloucestershire County Council is the highway authority for all of these. Cheltenham Borough Council runs the car parks and on-street parking, but not the roads.
Parking in Cheltenham
Every tariff below is from Cheltenham Borough Council’s own car parks page, checked on 9 August 2026. Blue Badge holders park free for the first three hours in every pay and display car park listed, with a clock set to the arrival time.
| Car park | Postcode | Spaces | 1 hour | 2 hours | 4 hours | All day |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coronation Square | GL51 7RG | 143 | £0.30 | £0.50 | £1.10 | £2.20 |
| Pittville Pump Room | GL52 3JE | 150 | £1.00 | £1.50 | £6.00 | £6.00 (max 10 hrs) |
| Bath Terrace | GL50 2BA | 204 | £1.30 | £1.90 | £6.40 | £6.40 |
| Commercial Street | GL50 2AZ | 33 | £1.30 | £1.90 | £6.50 | £6.50 |
| Sherborne Place | GL52 2RS | 103 | £2.10 | £3.40 | £6.80 | £11.50 |
| Chelt Walk | GL50 3PR | 212 | £2.10 | £3.60 | £6.80 | £11.50 |
| Royal Well | GL50 3DS | 48 | £2.10 | £3.60 | £6.80 | max stay 4 hrs |
| St James Street | GL52 2SH | 200 | £2.10 | £3.60 | £6.80 | £13.60 |
| St Georges Road | GL50 3DT | 26 | £2.10 | £3.60 | £6.80 | £13.60 |
| Bath Parade | GL53 7HN | 75 | £2.10 | £3.60 | £6.90 | £13.60 |
| Rodney Road | GL50 1HX | 102 | £2.20 | £3.60 | £6.80 | £13.60 |
| Regent Arcade (multi-storey) | GL50 1HN | 523 | £2.20 | £3.60 | £6.80 | £16.80 |
| High Street | GL50 3HQ | 126 | — | £3.60 | £6.80 | £11.50 |
Three practical points. Coronation Square in Hesters Way is the outlier: 30p an hour and £2.20 all day, roughly a seventh of the town-centre rate, because it serves a district centre rather than the Promenade. Regent Arcade is the biggest car park in town at 523 spaces and the only one with a meaningful evening tariff, £3.20 flat if you arrive after 5.30pm, with a 2.0m height limit and the barrier locked at 1am. And the Pittville Pump Room car park is the cheapest way to park within walking distance of the north side of the town centre, at £2.00 for three hours.
Park and ride, and the station
Arle Court Transport Hub on the western edge of town is the park and ride. Its four-storey car park and bus terminal opened on 29 July 2024, taking the site from 576 spaces to almost 1,000, of which 860 are in the new car park. It has 100 electric vehicle charge points, which the county council calls the largest contactless-payment EV charging public transport hub in the UK, plus cycle lockers, showers and a Changing Places toilet. Buses run from there into central Cheltenham and on to Gloucester.
Cheltenham Spa station has its own car park of 286 charged spaces on Queens Road GL51 8NP, open 24 hours, plus 134 sheltered cycle spaces. It is the only station car park in the borough and it fills on weekday mornings. See Cheltenham train times to London for services and fares.
How to check what is closed today
- Gloucestershire County Council roadworks map, hosted on one.network, which is updated through the day and shows dates and traffic management for each site.
- Gloucestershire Highways on 08000 514 514 for anything unclear on the map.
- Public Notice Portal, which carries every statutory temporary traffic order the county council publishes, with the legal extent and dates. Search on a GL postcode.
- National Highways for the M5 itself, as distinct from the junction and its approaches.
Frequently asked questions
What is happening at M5 Junction 10?
It is being rebuilt as a full all-movements junction, with four new slip roads, two new overbridges replacing the Piffs Elm interchange bridge, a new elongated roundabout and a realigned, widened A4019. The scheme costs £372 million and is due to complete in spring 2029.
Why is Whaddon Road closed on Saturdays?
Gloucestershire County Council has a standing temporary order closing Whaddon Road between Wymans Road and Prestbury Road for 330 metres on match and event days at Cheltenham Town Football Club. It runs on various dates from 8 August 2026 to 29 May 2027, and no stopping or waiting is allowed while it is in force.
Where is the cheapest parking in Cheltenham?
Coronation Square in Hesters Way, at 30p for an hour and £2.20 all day. Within walking distance of the centre, Bath Terrace and Commercial Street are the cheapest at £1.30 an hour, and the Pittville Pump Room car park is £2.00 for three hours.
Where is the park and ride in Cheltenham?
Arle Court Transport Hub, on the western edge of town near M5 Junction 11. Its four-storey car park opened in July 2024 and took the site to almost 1,000 spaces from 576, with 100 EV charge points and bus links into Cheltenham and Gloucester.
Who is responsible for roads in Cheltenham?
Gloucestershire County Council is the highway authority and makes the temporary closure orders. Cheltenham Borough Council runs the car parks and on-street parking. Report a pothole or a street fault to the county council.
Related
- Cheltenham planning news: the two strategic sites the M5 Junction 10 scheme is meant to unlock.
- Cheltenham train times to London: 16 direct trains a day, and what the season ticket costs.
- Things to do in Cheltenham.
Sources
- Gloucestershire County Council, M5 Junction 10 scheme information for the scheme components, layout and speed limits.
- Gloucestershire County Council, additional £71.5m secured for M5 Junction 10, January 2026 for the £372 million total and the spring 2029 completion date.
- Gloucestershire County Council, Arle Court Transport Hub for the transport hub’s opening date and facilities.
- Statutory temporary traffic orders made by Gloucestershire County Council and published in the Gloucestershire Echo, via the Public Notice Portal, notices dated 23 July, 30 July and 6 August 2026.
- Cheltenham Borough Council, our car parks for every tariff, space count and charging hour.
- Great Western Railway, Cheltenham Spa station information for station car park and cycle parking capacity.
Roadworks dates slip. Confirm against the county council’s map before you set off.
Have your say
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