THE Government has awarded the county £54.5m to dual the Carrington Bridge.

Robin Walker, MP for Worcester, said he was 'thrilled' by today's announcement from the Department for Transport and said it would reduce traffic in and around the city.

The extra £15.5m of the £70m project will be funded by Worcestershire County Council and local district councils.

The work to the bridge, which connects west Worcester to the M5, has been called "the biggest road construction project in Worcestershire for decades."

The money will come from the government’s local major transport projects fund.

Mr Walker said: “I’m thrilled that we have got this. It’s a massive win-win.

“Dualling is doubling the capacity of the roads in each direction. Two lanes of traffic from Powick down to the ketch [roundabout]

“We won’t have the large jams around Carrington Bridge and the southern link road.

“People living in west Worcestershire will have a much quicker journey to the M5. It will also reduce traffic in the city centre.

“It will mean that for many people who drive from the west side of the city to the centre or from St Peter’s out to the west you will have a much smoother flow of traffic.”

Dualling the bridge forms part of the wider A4440 southern link road improvement scheme which will relieve congestion, reduce journey times and improve journey time reliability as well as being an important boost for the local economy.

Mr Walker said the funding announcement was the culmination of a long period of campaigning.

He said: “We have pushed very hard for it over a long period of time.

“I’ve been speaking about this in parliament for at least four years. All that pressure has allowed the government to make this a priority.”

The MP also acknowledged the ongoing debates over the merits of the southern link road in comparison with a north-west link road.

He said: “I know for 30 years there’s been debate. But what I’d say is a north-west link is at least twice as much.

“I think long-term it’s something we have to look at but in the circumstances we are in today, this will make a massive difference and it’s also what I thought was achievable.”

Jesse Norman MP, parliamentary under secretary of state for roads, local transport and devolution, will make the official announcement later today.

Cllr Simon Geraghty, leader of Worcestershire County Council, said: "This is fantastic news for Worcestershire. It will complete one of the county's biggest capital construction projects.

"The expansion of Carrington Bridge will enable us to dual all the way from the west of Worcester to the M5.

"It will improve journey times and the reliability of the network. It will be a big boost for Malvern and it will reduce traffic congestion in Worcester. 

"Worcestershire already has one of the fastest growing economies in the country and the completion of the southern link road will make the county even more attractive as a place to live, work and invest."

Harriett Baldwin, MP for West Worcestershire, also welcomed the funding announcement.  

She said: “I feel immense joy that the years of lobbying have finally paid off and the case has been made to double the Carrington Road bridge.

“The road has been over-capacity for many years and it has been a regular issue both in my postbag but also with the businesses who raise it whenever I meet with them.

“Everyone is grateful for the work Worcestershire County Council has put into this bid and managing the extensive improvements along the busy southern link road.

“I know that this news will be warmly welcomed by local people and none of us can wait for the work to get started and deliver an important piece of infrastructure improvements for west Worcestershire.”

Cllr Richard Udall, chair of the county council’s Labour group, welcomed the money from central government but said it was wasted on a ‘vanity project’.

He instead called for investment in a north-west link road and a new bridge to the north of the city.

The councillor, who represents St John’s, said: “Everyone in St John’s knows dual tracking the Carrington Bridge is not the answer to the traffic problems of Worcester. 

“With two thousand new houses being planned in St John’s we need new and more imaginative thinking.

“St John’s and surrounding communities are suffering a slow and painful death, caused by traffic congestion.

“We need to remove through traffic and take it away from St John’s, the work on the Carrington Bridge and the southern link road will not do this.

“It will help with current capacity problems but it does not and will not resolve the real concerns and future traffic congestion that the expansion of the city will cause.”

Cllr Udall called for the completion of a ring road around the city and offered to cooperate with the Conservatives to campaign for this to be built.

The southern link road is a key road linking the M5 junction 7 and the west side of Worcester.

Phase four of the scheme includes dualling the road between Ketch and Powick, including Carrington Bridge.

Construction is planned to start in 2019.

The southern link road sees 30,000 vehicles drive along it each day and is one of the county's most congested roads.

The first two phases of the planned improvements have been delivered and construction of the third phase started in October 2015.

As well as funding for Carrington Bridge, Mr Norman also announced an extra £6.6m to help to ease traffic congestion in Worcestershire.

This investment will seek to improve walking and cycling routes in Worcester town centre and Bromsgrove.

The £6.6m complements millions being invested by Worcestershire County Council into easing congestion.