Hereford Bypass: Cabinet approves preferred route

Red route will be taken forward for further development and consultation.

Herefordshire Council's cabinet today approved the selection of a preferred route corridor for the Hereford bypass for further development and design.

Cabinet considered reports and recommendations regarding the Hereford Transport Package at a meeting today at Shire Hall.

A short list of proposed routes was approved by cabinet in January 2018 and a public consultation was carried out in February and March to assess the public view of the Hereford Transport Package, including proposed bypass routes and active travel measures. Considerable technical work has been undertaken to assess environmental, engineering, economic and traffic factors that affect each of the different routes. Based on this technical work and the public consultation feedback, detailed reports have been produced which recommend the red route as the preferred bypass route corridor.

Following cabinet approval, the red route will now be taken forward for further scheme development and consultation later this year.

That next phase of consultation will then enable stakeholders to comment on the detail of a bypass scheme based on the red route corridor, and the results of this consultation will inform a future cabinet decision to confirm the bypass scheme and associated active travel measures.

Cllr Philip Price, cabinet member infrastructure, said: "We are delighted that cabinet has approved the further development and consultation of the recommended route corridor, which is the product of a great deal of technical work and close consideration of public feedback. The technical work has shown the red route to be most appropriate when considering environmental factors and minimising the impact on local people and residences.

"We are committed to keeping local residents and businesses fully updated and involved, and we encourage people to take part in the further consultation later this year. Your feedback is vital in helping to shape how we move forward.

"The proposed bypass will improve connectivity to the rest of the UK, create the infrastructure to enable business growth and support new housing, improve options for walking and cycling and help to alleviate Hereford's traffic congestion problems. It is of huge strategic value for the entire region."