Relief came early for Worcester’s motorists this week.

Exactly 36 hours early to be exact.

The section of the A4440 Worcester rung road between the Whittington and Norton Roundabout was due to be re-opened on Friday at 6am after a week’s closure to allow a new railway bridge to be pushed into place.

But completion of the work allowed the road to be opened again to traffic at 6pm on Wednesday.

Commuter Richard Parry was able to use the stretch of road on Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

He said: “It might sound odd, but it was quite exciting to see the new bridge in place. They’ve been doing work there so long, and there have been queues there so often, that’s is good to see it’s been worth it.”

The bridge has been constructed and put into place to allow the dualling of the stretch of road.

When a new road is constructed it will carry two lanes of southbound traffic under the new section of bridge, and two lanes will head north under the exiting one.

Councillor Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council's cabinet member for Economy and Infrastructure, said: "The number of organisations needed to make this happen makes this one of the most complex schemes we have completed in the county. It truly has been a brilliant effort by all involved. One hundred and eighty engineers worked for 24 hours a day, in three eight hour shifts allowing the bridge extension to be completed well ahead of schedule. The Southern Link Road (SLR) is due to be dualled between J7 M5 and Powick Roundabout by the end of 2021. Following completion of the works to the rail bridge, the next stage is to construct the highway underneath the bridge. Work is underway on the preparation for this. The funding for completion of this and the planned bridges is linked to the South Worcestershire Urban Extension Plan."

Traffic is also able now turn right from Hylton Road to head west on Bromyard Road or south towards the ring road on Bromwich Road.