Plans for a new M5 junction and bridge over the River Severn in Gloucestershire have been backed by two councils, it has emerged.
Stroud and Forest of Dean district councils have written to Highways England to request a Junction 13A, between J13 for Stroud and J14 for Wotton-under-Edge, The BBC reports.
The River Severn and crossings
A feasibility study into the proposed works will take place later this year. Highways England is considering options for its next major investment phase under a second Roads Investment Strategy covering 2020-2025.
The leader of Forest of Dean District Council, Patrick Molyneux, said: 'It's an opportunity for Stroud, the Forest and for Gloucestershire as a whole.
'It would make Lydney the real gateway to the Forest, and making that link across the river would bring everything together.'
In a letter to Highways England, Stroud District Council's chief executive David Hagg wrote that the new route 'would relieve pressure on existing junctions and build capacity as major housing and employment growth takes place in Stroud district'.
'It opens up the opportunity for substantial and repeated growth in a key development area in Stroud district, centred on Sharpness Docks, the £40m Gloucestershire Science and Technology Park at Berkeley Green and growth associated with the new nuclear power station investment at Oldbury in South Gloucestershire,' he added.
