Bypass scheme can keep moving forward, says council
BBCThe long-awaited Hereford bypass scheme can now begin in earnest, a Herefordshire leader has said.
The council is due to approve next month what it calls "the procurement route to enable the Hereford Western Bypass to move to it's construction stage".
The route will link the A465 and A49 southwest of the city with a second proposed phase across the River Wye and up the west side of the city.
Cabinet member for finance, councillor Pete Stoddart said diverting traffic out of the city will "let Hereford breathe again" and enable a more diverse transport mix within it.
"Currently lorries come up the A465 into Hereford and out to Rotherwas," he said. "This will take 15% of traffic out of the city."
Phase two, the bypass "proper" will then be "a growth corridor for employment as well as housing" – the case for which is only strengthened by the government's higher demands on the county to build more new homes, he said.
"We will meet that demand, but they have to help us provide the road and the infrastructure" – while the developers of all these new homes "will assist us in paying for the road", he added.
Up to £30m has been earmarked this year alone on phase one with the council previously saying it hoped work would start by 2026.
Stoddart dismissed opposition parties' preferred option of an eastern crossing over the Wye as "a road to nowhere", adding: "From Rotherwas, most traffic wants to go north, not east."
Councillor Terry James, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the county and supporter of the bypass, said he believed there was "a strong chance the government will fund the first phase", but added: "We have to show we are keen to do it anyway."
Hereford Civic Society chairman Jeremy Milln, also a Hereford city councillor, said that aside from the cost, there remained "an awful lot of bureaucratic bridges to cross" before the bypass can happen.
Given the long timescales involved, there was a "lively possibility" that a different administration in the county following elections in 2027 could "rethink" the whole plan, as had previously happened.
The current Green and Independents for Herefordshire groups were asked for comment.
This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.
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