The road has been closed since 10^{th August, 2007 as a result of a landslip caused by the summer floods.}

Its re-opening will mark the end of one of the most damaging and long lasting side effects of last year’s emergency.

Gloucestershire County Cllr Stan Waddington, Lead Cabinet Member for Environment, said: "It has been a long, hard and at times very complicated job but I am glad that the road is now opening.

"We know how vitally important this road is to everyone in the area, particularly people who live, work and do business in Painswick and getting it open again has been our number one priority ever since the floods caused its closure".

Getting to this stage has been an expensive and painstaking operation as before the task of rebuilding the road could begin, a detailed geotechnical investigation of the site had to be carried out in order to find a permanent solution that would prevent any further slips.

The investigation concluded that not only was land still moving but there was a danger of a total collapse of the road resulting in damage to existing BT, gas and water services.

700 tonnes of material were excavated and moved in order to stop the movement. A further 300 tonnes were removed to enable the piling works to take place.

Piling work began on 19th November 2007 and was completed just before Christmas. The piling work involved the installation of 37 x 900mm diameter piles up to 19 metres long, consisting of approximately 368 cubic metres of in-situ concrete with 60 tonnes of steel reinforcement.

As well as repairing and resurfacing the road and strengthening and re-enforcing the banks around it, engineers also upgraded the existing drainage system installed new kerbs, a new footway and a pedestrian guardrail.

The final phase included the removal of unsuitable material from the carriageway, the installation of new BT ducts, new kerbs, a new footway and a new pedestrian guardrail.

After bad weather slowed the work and threatened further delays, Gloucestershire Highways and Gloucestershire County Council teams worked long hours in difficult conditions to get the road back open within the timescale promised.

"Gloucestershire County Council has been working with our partners to ensure the work was completed as quickly and efficiently as possible", said Cllr Waddington.

"Weather permitting, our engineers have been on site seven days a week starting at first light in the morning and working through until darkness to meet our target of February 15th".

Staff from Stroud District Council will be on hand to provide further help and advice to businesses affected by the closure.