AN ACCIDENT blackspot close to Cirencester will be gone for good by the end of July, as developers plan to turn the Preston Tollbar into a roundabout.

Andrew Wilson Partnership is currently building a care home and an associated housing development off the A419 Swindon to Cirencester road near Siddington. Roadworks have been put in place until the end of July.

To make the area safer, the developer will be replacing the notorious Preston Tollbar with a roundabout, as part of the care home scheme.

There will also be an access point to the home from the busy A419 dual carriageway.

The Preston Tollbar is the crossing point between the villages of Preston and Siddington, which are either side of the A419 dual carriageway.

Cars coming from Preston are able to drive straight across both carriageways to get to Siddington, which in the past has caused some serious accidents.

In 2013, a car overturned after crashing into another vehicle at the tollbar. In the same year two other cars crashed into each other while trying to cross the busy stretch, causing injury to both drivers.

Neil Troughton, in charge of development management for Gloucestershire County Council, confirmed the plans and said the housing developer had put forward the suggestion to make the road safer.

“The work will be a carried out by the new housing developer in phases, with a full public consultation forming part of the request for a traffic regulation order,” he said.

When the new roundabout is in operation drivers will no longer be able to turn right into South Cerney Road from the A419, nor will they be able to travel straight across the Tollbar from Kingshill Lane to the A419. They will have to use the roundabout instead.

These plans have been welcomed by regular users of the tollbar. Jordan McKenna, 22, lives just outside Siddington and uses this route every day for going to and coming from work.

“It is terribly dangerous and I have seen a number of near misses,” he said.

“The main issue is the speed of vehicles on the road. If these changes to the road manage the speed of vehicles better then I would like to think that this will be an improvement.”

The work is due to be finished by July 20 this year.