More road closures are coming as work to prepare Swindon's roads for the New Eastern Villages housing expansion continues. 

This time, parts of the A420 between White Hart junction and the Gablecross roundabout up to Symmetry Park junction will be shut to motorists to allow for resurfacing and road marking work. 

Lanes on this stretch of road will be closing overnight from Wednesday, April 6 from 7pm to 6am and it will continue to close during the night for the next few weeks, all the way up until April 29. 

Three-way temporary traffic lights will be in place during these times but there will be no lane closures during the Easter break, from Friday, April 15 to Monday, April 18. 

Swindon Advertiser:

The contractor for the scheme, Dyer and Butler, has recently been installing beany kerbs (a combined kerb and drainage system) up to the temporary footpath. They have also completed the excavation for the full-depth road construction, and began laying the foundations for the new road surface that will be coming. 

It has also begun constructing new road signs, chevrons and bollards.

Improvement work to both the White Hart junction and Gablecross roundabout fall within a larger umbrella of work that also involves the Picadilly roundabout and the Nythe Road/Oxford Road junction. 

Millions has been spent across all of these schemes to add lanes, widen roads and increase traffic flow in these areas in anticipation of the massive NEV development, which will see up to 8,000 new homes built in the east of the town between Wanborough and South Marston.  

Swindon Advertiser:

Swindon Borough Council recently opened the brand new northbound slip-road from the White Hart roundabout onto the A419, stating that work at the junction was drawing to a close.

But, deputy council leader Gary Sumner later clarified that some work would still be taking place there over the next few weeks. This includes opening lanes on the roundabout that are currently closed and the turning on of traffic signals, both of which are waiting for the completion of the above Gablecross/A420 work. 

"There are works to finish on the roundabout including signals, landscaping and closing up the old A419 access northbound," he said. "This will be completed over the next few weeks."

Motorists travelling through the area have experienced widespread disruption as a result of these sweeping roadworks, many of which have overrun significantly from their planned completion dates.