Worcester set for a new 'northern footbridge' across the River Severn

Worcester City Council has agreed a £150,000 'feasibility study' into creating a footbridge linking Gheluvelt Park to Kepax Country Park.

The ambitious idea, which is likely to cost more than £2 million to become reality, would open up northern Worcester like never before for walkers and cyclists.

Ever since the Diglis Bridge, pictured below, opened in 2010 it has transformed the way many people travel in south Worcester, leaving council chiefs stunned at its remarkable success.

More than 465,000 annual trips are typically made across Diglis Bridge, more than 10 times the original forecast, boosting the environment and helping people explore more of Worcester on foot.

Now the same thing could happen in north Worcester, with the £150,000 a first financial commitment towards making it happen.

The city council's Conservative group, which came up with the idea, says it would have major benefits for tourists, students, commuters and pedestrians, and help give cycling another shot-in-the-arm.

Councillor Marc Bayliss, who leads the city's Tory group, said: "We think Diglis Bridge has been a great success story, and want to do the same in another part of the city.

"This £150,000 will help turn an idea into a plan - it will have real benefits for Worcester and will help open areas like Kepax Country Park, an unadopted former 1960s household waste site which has lay idle for some time."

Green Councillor Louis Stephen said: "This is a really good idea and we're very happy to support it.

"What's so exciting about this is, we talk about city congestion but this is something to actually help.

"Look at what the bridge in Diglis has done to open that side of the city up - this would help people in north Worcester, it'll help students, it's really good."

The £150,000 has been approved as part of the 2017/18 budget, despite the Labour administration having some initial concern.

Councillor Adrian Gregson, the city's Labour leader, said: "It's important, but only one aspect of the transport strategy for Worcester - we wanted to put money into the whole transport strategy for the city.

"But we were comfortable supporting it, because we need to get this work underway."

The feasibility study will firm up the exact route, its cost, the design and any likely timescales before Worcestershire County Council is asked to develop it further and seek funding.

But Diglis Bridge, which secured Big Lottery Fund cash, and is now routinely used as a good example by the Department for Transport to other councils nationally, meaning Worcester is well placed to try and get another.

The footbridge idea already forms part of the county council's existing Local Transport Plan, a dossier outlining ideas to ease congestion.

It has also been included in the more recent City Plan, a separate Worcester City Council document drawn up with cross-party input.

In recent years more than £5 million has been sunk into overhauling the city's riverside to make it a magnet for visitors to flock to.

The improvements, which include raised embankments along Hylton Road and resurfaced walkways in a circular route all the way past Pitchcroft, have been widely credited with boosting the environment and tackling obesity.