The A419 above Chalford closes day and night from 29 September to 9 October, with no emergency access. The main repair is now not expected until November 2027.

The A419 at Cowcombe Hill, the road out of Chalford towards Sapperton and Cirencester, will be closed day and night for eleven days from Tuesday 29 September.

Gloucestershire County Council advertised the closure order on 9 September. It covers about 500 metres of the A419, running south east from outside Lavender Bakehouse, and it runs until Friday 9 October 2026. The reason given is geotechnical works.

The order carries a clause that most closures do not. Neither pedestrian nor emergency access will be maintained, which the county puts down to safety “during major excavations”. The alternative route is given only as signed on site.

This is the first date the county has put in writing for Cowcombe Hill. The hillside underneath the road has been moving for years, cracking the carriageway, and the council has been designing a repair without saying when it would start.

The repair itself is now a 2027 job

Chalford Parish Council published the same closure dates on 3 September, and described the work as geotechnical testing and investigation rather than the repair. Its notice adds the line that matters most to anyone who uses the road:

The longer-term/main closure is therefore not expected until November 2027.

That is a year later than the date still circulating in the valley. Brimscombe & Thrupp Parish Council’s roadworks page, updated on 8 September, continues to list the A419 at Cowcombe Hill as “permanently closed” from 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027, and links to a plan of that closure.

Gloucestershire County Council’s own scheme page says neither thing. We rechecked it on 13 September. It still reads:

No construction start date has been confirmed.

It adds that a provisional booking of road space “has previously been made to support future construction planning, however the programme remains under review while design work continues”. So the six-month closure over this winter exists as a booking, not a plan, and the only date the county has actually committed to is the eleven days at the end of this month.

The four different answers on record about when Cowcombe Hill closes Four sources give four different accounts. Gloucestershire County Council's closure order of 9 September 2026 closes the A419 at Cowcombe Hill from 29 September to 9 October 2026 for geotechnical works. Chalford Parish Council, on 3 September 2026, gives the same dates and says the main closure is not expected until November 2027. Brimscombe and Thrupp Parish Council, updated 8 September 2026, still lists a permanent closure from 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. Gloucestershire County Council's own scheme page, rechecked on 13 September 2026, says no construction start date has been confirmed. Four sources, four answers on when Cowcombe Hill closes All four were published or rechecked between 3 and 13 September 2026. Closure order, Gloucestershire County Council, 9 September Chalford Parish Council, 3 September Brimscombe & Thrupp Parish Council, updated 8 September County scheme page, rechecked 13 September Closed 29 September to 9 October 2026, geotechnical works, 500 metres, no pedestrian or emergency access. Same dates, described as testing and investigation. The main closure is "not expected until November 2027". Still lists the A419 "permanently closed" from 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. "No construction start date has been confirmed." Graphic by Stroud Today
The only date the county has committed to in writing is 29 September to 9 October.

Why the road is being dug up at all

Cowcombe Hill is the steep climb the A419 makes out of the Frome valley at Chalford, about three miles east of Stroud. It is the direct route from the Five Valleys to Sapperton, Cirencester and the A417.

The county’s description of the problem is short and blunt. The hillside beneath the road is “experiencing ongoing ground movement, which has resulted in cracking within the carriageway”. Left untreated, it says, the landslip “could affect the long-term safety, resilience and reliability of this important route”.

Monitoring and ground investigations over recent years found the movement. An options assessment has been completed and engineers are working up a preferred fix. Before anything is built, the council and its consultants are running ecological surveys, Habitat Regulations Assessment screening, protected species assessments, tree and vegetation assessments and heritage reviews. The scheme is paid for by Gloucestershire County Council and the Department for Transport.

What it means for you

  • If you drive between Chalford and Cirencester, plan for the A419 to be shut from Tuesday 29 September to Friday 9 October, at every hour of the day, not just overnight.
  • If you live on the closed length, note that the order does not maintain pedestrian or emergency access past the works. The county gives its alternative route as signed on site rather than publishing a map for this one.
  • If you had pencilled in a closure from 2 November, the parish notice carrying that date has not been withdrawn, but Chalford Parish Council now says the main closure is not expected until November 2027 and the county has confirmed no start date at all.
  • If the works overrun, the order can legally stay in force for up to eighteen months, or until the works are finished, whichever comes first. That is standard wording on every county closure order and does not mean the road will be shut that long.
  • Queries go to Gloucestershire Highways on 08000 514 514. Every other dated closure in the district is on our Stroud roadworks and travel page.

Sources