9:58am Friday 9th May 2008
By Jack Blanchard
A NEW road bridge and southern dual carriageway for Worcester head up an exciting £187 million package of city transport projects unveiled at County Hall.
Highways chiefs at Worcestershire County Council have spent months putting together the ambitious package of measures they hope will give Worcester the transport infrastructure it needs to cope with the thousands of new homes which it is anticipated will be built in and around the city over the next 20 years.
It is now down to the Government to decide how many of the schemes it is prepared to back financially.
Worcestershire's £187 million bid was submitted to the Department of Transport yesterday and represents the county's transport aspirations for the period 2011-2016.
The package includes the following proposals: l The widening into dual carriageway of the A4440 southern link road from Powick to junction seven of the M5.
l A new £50 million road bridge for Worcester, location to be decided.
l The introduction of an inner-city tram service, running on existing rail track.
l Other measures to promote sustainable travel and the use of public transport.
l A high-quality bus network.
Development of walking and cycling routes.
l Improvement of the urban environment.
Councillor Derek Prodger, the council's cabinet member for the environment, said: "We in no way see the city acting as a dormitory for the West Midlands conurbation - we firmly believe Worcester is one of the UK's premier cities, and this proposed investment would further enhance it."
Coun Prodger agreed the county's bid was "optimistic", and said his priority was the widening of the southern link road.
But the Tory councillor added he was desperate to get as much money as possible from the Government to combat Worcester's growing congestion problem.
Worcester's Labour MP Mike Foster said he was backing the county's bid.
"I have been in discussion with the county about all these ideas," he said.
"They are ambitious plans, without a doubt, and of course I will be submitting a letter of support for this level of investment from the Government.
"There is total unanimity in particular over the need for a dual carriageway to Powick, to deal with the horrendous bottleneck that exists there."
The council is expecting to here in early 2009 if its bid has been successful.
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