The councils will approve important plans this week to build a new bridge over the River Severn in Worcester.
The Worcestershire County Council Planning Committee will meet to discuss multi-million pound plans to build a new pedestrian and bicycle bridge over the River Severn between Gheluvelt Park in Worcester and the old Kepax landfill.
The council’s planners have recommended that the plan be approved when the committee meets at County Hall on Tuesday, July 6th.
The cost of the bridge alone will be around £ 5.8 million, with £ 4 million from Worcestershire County Council, £ 820,000 from Worcester City Council and £ 1 million from the county government’s Getting Building Fund.
Cabinet papers from March said the bridge would most likely be built by the end of next year, but the latest planning papers say the bridge should be operational by spring 2023.
County Hall has the final say on the new bridge but is working in partnership with the city council on the project.
The new bridge would be barely a mile from the city’s Sabrina Bridge and about three kilometers from the Diglis Bridge – the success of which both councils aim to emulate.
There are roughly twice as many houses within 500 meters of the planned bridge as in Diglis, which would mean that more people could use the new bridge.
The city council expects around 400,000 hiking and 100,000 cycling tours over the bridge per year.
A report by the council’s planners said: “The main objective of the program is to encourage walking and cycling through the provision of new infrastructure, including a river crossing.
“This would encourage a mode change from the car, in which trips on foot or by bike would be faster and additional hiking and cycling trips, especially leisure trips, would be necessary.”
The planning committee will meet next Tuesday (July 6th) from 10 a.m.