Gloucestershire says no start date is set for the A419 Cowcombe Hill closure being circulated locally. Live works, key routes, car park prices and who to report to.

Stroud sits at the bottom of five valleys, which means almost every route out of it is a single road with no parallel alternative. When one is dug up, there is rarely a short way round. Gloucestershire County Council is the highway authority for all of them; Stroud District Council only runs the car parks.

The most-shared roadworks story in the district right now needs a correction, and the rest of this page covers what is genuinely booked, the routes that matter, and what parking costs.

The A419 Cowcombe Hill closure: what is actually confirmed

Brimscombe & Thrupp Parish Council’s roadworks page, last updated on 25 July 2026, lists the A419 at Cowcombe Hill as due to be “permanently closed” from 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027. That is the Stroud to Cirencester road above Chalford, and a six-month closure of it would reroute a large share of the valley’s eastbound traffic.

Gloucestershire County Council’s own page for the scheme says something different. The council is designing a repair to a landslip beneath the carriageway, where “ongoing ground movement” has caused “cracking within the carriageway”, and on the construction programme it states plainly: “No construction start date has been confirmed.” It adds that “a provisional road space booking has previously been made to support future construction planning, however the programme remains under review while design work continues.”

So the November date exists, but as a provisional booking of road space rather than a fixed closure. The scheme is still at design stage, with ground investigations, ecological surveys and heritage reviews under way, and it is funded jointly by the county council and the Department for Transport. Treat 2 November as a date to watch, not a date to plan around, and check the county’s page before rearranging anything.

Works booked in the valleys now

Road closures notified in the Stroud valleys, as published by Brimscombe & Thrupp Parish Council on 25 July 2026
RoadDatesReason
Toadsmoor Road, Toadsmoor10 to 21 August 2026Gas mains replacement, 56m from 'Montrow' to the London Road junction
Quarhouse Lane to Stringer's WoodTo 31 August 2026Carriageway patching, 165m, running since 31 October 2025
A419 Cowcombe Hill, ChalfordProvisionally 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027Landslip stabilisation; county council says no start date confirmed

Pedestrian access to properties and emergency access are maintained through all three. Gloucestershire Highways takes queries on 08000 514 514, and the county’s live roadworks map is the authoritative list for anywhere else in the district.

The A417 Missing Link, and why it closes your route east

The biggest scheme within reach of Stroud is not in Stroud district at all. National Highways is building the A417 Missing Link between the Brockworth bypass and the Cowley roundabout, the last stretch of single carriageway on the Gloucester to Cirencester road and the route Stroud drivers use to reach Oxford and the A40.

The first vehicles ran on new sections of the A417 and A436 in early July 2026, and the scheme is due to finish in 2027. It is still closing the road at weekends while it does. National Highways listed full both-direction closures of the A46 Brockworth to Air Balloon section from 11pm Friday to 6am Monday on the weekends of 14 to 17 August and 21 to 24 August 2026, and overnight closures of the new A436 and A417 between the Air Balloon and the A429 Burford Road from 9pm on Monday 24 August to 6am Friday 28 August. Diversions are signed.

If you are heading east from Stroud on one of those weekends, the A419 through Chalford and Sapperton to Cirencester is the alternative, which is also the road under review for the Cowcombe Hill closure.

The routes that matter, and where they bottleneck

  • A419 west is the Stroud to Stonehouse to M5 Junction 13 run, and the district’s main link to the motorway. It carries the Stonehouse and Great Oldbury growth as well as the town.
  • A419 east climbs Cowcombe Hill through Chalford to Sapperton and Cirencester. It is the road under review above.
  • A46 north runs from Stroud through Painswick to Cheltenham, and A46 south through Nailsworth towards Bath. Both are steep, narrow in places and heavily used by through traffic.
  • A4135 links Dursley and Cam east to the A38 and M5 Junction 13.
  • M5 Junctions 12 and 14 are the district’s structural problem rather than a temporary one. Stroud District Council’s April 2026 report on starting a new Local Plan named “longstanding issues at M5 Junctions 12 and 14” as a constraint on where new housing can go at all, and the planning inspectors examining its submitted plan have been corresponding with the council, National Highways and the county about capacity on those corridors since February 2026. More on that on our Stroud planning page.

Parking in Stroud town

Stroud District Council publishes a tariff for seven car parks, all of them in Stroud town. Its other car parks, in Nailsworth, Painswick, Minchinhampton, Stonehouse, Dursley, Cam, Wotton-under-Edge, Berkeley and elsewhere, are listed with maximum stays and bay counts but no charges.

Cost of three hours in each Stroud town council car park Horizontal bars showing what three hours costs in each of Stroud District Council's seven priced car parks. The London Road multi-storey with 335 bays, Cheapside with 193, London Road surface with 141, Parliament Street with 122 and Ebley Wharf with 50 all charge £2.00. Church Street with 101 bays and Rowcroft with 24 charge £4.80, and both cap the stay at three hours. Three hours in Stroud costs £2.00, or £4.80 if you park in the wrong one Stroud District Council tariffs, checked 10 August 2026. Bay counts from the council's own list. London Road multi-storey Cheapside London Road surface Parliament Street Ebley Wharf Church Street Rowcroft £2.00 £2.00 £2.00 £2.00 £2.00 £4.80 £4.80 335 bays 193 bays 141 bays 122 bays 50 bays 101 bays, 3hr max 24 bays, 3hr max Church Street and Rowcroft are the two closest to the shops, and the two you cannot stay in past three hours.
The two most convenient car parks in Stroud are the two most expensive, and the only two you cannot leave a car in all day.

Cheapside is the one to know. At 193 bays it is the second largest in town, and it is the only council car park in Stroud with a genuine long-stay tariff: £3.00 for seven hours and £3.60 for 24. Charges apply Monday to Saturday 8am to 5pm, it is free on Sundays and bank holidays, and season tickets are available.

London Road, both the 141-bay surface car park and the 335-bay multi-storey behind Brunel Mall, charge only between 8am and 2pm Monday to Saturday, so an afternoon there is free. The multi-storey closes 9pm to 6.30am and all day Sunday.

Ebley Wharf is the exception on evenings: charges apply all week, all hours, with a flat £1.00 from 5pm to 8am Monday to Thursday and £3.00 from 5pm Friday to 8am Monday.

Blue badge holders park free in all of them, and motorcycles free at Church Street.

Getting around without the car

There is no park and ride in Stroud district. The nearest equivalents are in Gloucester and Cheltenham.

Stroud station has 150 parking spaces, four of them accessible, and direct trains to London Paddington in about an hour and a half. Times, fares and the other two stations in the district are on Stroud trains to London.

The Stroudwater Navigation towpath is now the most useful traffic-free route in the valley. The restored Phase 1A between Stonehouse and Brimscombe is largely complete and walkable, and the Cotswold Canals Trust is working westwards on Phase 1B, a 3.7-mile stretch from Stonehouse to Saul Junction that the partnership aims to reopen to boats by 2029.

Reporting a pothole or a problem

Roads, pavements, potholes, flooding and street lighting in Stroud district are all Gloucestershire County Council’s responsibility, not Stroud District Council’s. Report a fault at fixmystreet.gloucestershire.gov.uk or call Gloucestershire Highways on 08000 514 514. Car parks, and anything inside one, go to Stroud District Council.

Frequently asked questions

Is the A419 at Cowcombe Hill closing in November 2026?

Not confirmed. A provisional road space booking exists for 2 November 2026 to 30 April 2027, and Brimscombe & Thrupp Parish Council lists it, but Gloucestershire County Council states that “no construction start date has been confirmed” and that the programme “remains under review while design work continues”.

Where can I see current roadworks in Stroud?

On Gloucestershire County Council’s roadworks map, which covers works by the county, utility companies and other contractors across the district.

What is the cheapest car park in Stroud?

Cheapside, at £2.00 for three hours, £3.00 for seven and £3.60 for 24, with 193 bays. Church Street and Rowcroft cost £4.80 for three hours and will not let you stay longer than that.

Is parking free in Stroud on Sundays?

Yes in the council car parks that charge, apart from Ebley Wharf, which charges every day. The London Road multi-storey is closed all day on Sundays.

Who do I report a pothole to in Stroud?

Gloucestershire County Council, through fixmystreet.gloucestershire.gov.uk or on 08000 514 514. Stroud District Council does not maintain the roads.

Is there a park and ride in Stroud?

No. Stroud district has no park and ride site. Stratford Park is the largest long-stay council car park in the town at 311 bays, with a 12-hour maximum stay and gates that open at 6.30am and close at 10.30pm; the council lists no tariff for it.

Sources

Roadworks change weekly and the closures above were correct on 10 August 2026. Always check the county’s live map before travelling. What is being built in the district is on Stroud planning news; train times and fares are on Stroud trains to London.