JOURNEY times could be cut along a notoriously busy route after councillors agreed to build a new bridge over the River Severn alongside the Carrington Bridge.

The two-lane stretch of the A4440 southern ring road between Powick and Ketch roundabouts will also become a dual-carriageway.

Worcestershire County Council's planning committee gave permission for the plan on Tuesday (March 27).

Work on the £62 million bridge will take two years from next March, and will see 100 trucks a day bring in 150,000 tonnes of embanking material.

Mark Gorry, associate director of engineering consultancy firm Burroughs told councillors: “These improvements should make a 35-54 per cent reduction in journey times for those people travelling on the A4440. This will draw traffic away from Worcester city centre – cutting down congestion in the city.”

Relieving congestion in Worcester is a key objective. The report by Worcestershire County Council said that reduced congestion would make the city of Worcester more attractive to both commuters and other members of the public and could add up to 3,000 new jobs to the city.

At the meeting, concerns were raised about flooding, the state of the underpass to be renovated at Ketch roundabout and about the impact on traffic, often already congested, that the works may cause on the roads.

Mr Gorry said the new bridge would be constructed with a 1.5 metre gap from the existing bridge which would continue to be used for traffic in both directions until its counterpart was complete.

Powick resident Gerry Taggart urged planners to create a more ambitious pedestrian and cycle bridge for the Powick roundabout.

Currently the plans show a bridge to be built over the Hams Way just to west of the Powick roundabout. Walkers and cyclists will cross the roads running north and south by light controlled crossings.

Mr Taggart said: “Cyclists and pedestrians will still have to run the gauntlet of crossing very busy roads at a level crossing. There will be conflicts with vehicles.”

Cllr Ken Pollock, cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: “This is critical in linking trade up to the M5 at junction 7. This is the missing link in the chain. It’s vital for trade from west Worcestershire, but also Herefordshire and Wales to get to the motorway.”