A new access road built under the M4 near Swindon has been shortlisted for a major engineering award - despite it not even being open yet.

The 2.3km long, single-carriageway Southern Access Road, which has 1.9km of paths under the motorway, provides a direct link to the M4 from the 4,500 homes in Wichelstowe and aims to ease traffic and reduce journey times.

A panel of civil engineers has picked the £25m project and 13 other nominees to be in the running for the ICE South West Civil Engineering Awards 2023 - and the public can now vote for it to be the winner.

All the shortlisted schemes must show how they improve life for people in the region, whether through growth and economic development, climate resilience and carbon reduction, or enriching communities and delivering social value. 

In March, Wichel Way was nearly finished and the only work left to be done was to connect it to Wichelstowe.

Coun Chris Watts is Swindon Borough Council’s Cabinet member for the environment and transport.

He said: “It is great that the borough has been nominated for this award and this is great recognition for our highways team who oversaw this huge engineering project as part of the Wichelstowe development.

“This £25m scheme was a massive undertaking and our contractor, Alun Griffiths Ltd, built this new underpass by diverting the traffic onto newly-created lanes so the motorway could be kept open to all motorists, keeping disruption to a minimum.

“The underpass, which was a condition of the Wichelstowe planning permission, is unlocking thousands of new homes and employment land as the development is built out

“It would be fantastic for our Highways team if the Wichelstowe Southern Access scooped this prestigious award for the council considering the pressures and constraints they faced in delivering the project, and especially as the public has a say in who is crowned the winner.”

To vote, visit ice.org.uk/sw/awards by 5pm on Tuesday August 29, 2023.

The result will be revealed at a gala ceremony in Bristol on Friday, November 10, hosted by TV presenter Rob Bell. 

ICE South West regional director Miranda Housden said: “The People’s Choice Award is a great opportunity to promote civil engineering to the public and celebrate the hard work that civil engineers engage in to benefit the region’s communities.

"I’d encourage everyone to find out more about the outstanding projects on the shortlist and cast a vote for the scheme they think has had the greatest positive impact for their area or the region as a whole.”