Shrewsbury’s £100 million North West Relief Road project has been put on hold while Government officials review all major road-building projects across the country.
Officials at Shropshire Council were due to unveil a business case to complete the A5/A49 outer loop around Shrewsbury in August. But after advice from the Department for Transport they have put those plans on hold until the results of a DfT spending review are known.
It’s a major blow for the much-delayed project, which will not be built until 2016 at the earliest but is now likely to be put back further. But the move has been welcomed by environmental campaigners.
Residents are still being invited to make their views known as part of the consultation process on the project, which will runs until Monday. More than 450 people have attended exhibitions by Shropshire Council, while ‘fly over’ and ‘drive through’ videos of the proposed road have been viewed 1,700 times on website YouTube.
Keith Barrow, leader of Shropshire Council, said: “People’s views will continue to inform and be a vital part of the decision making process, although this process will inevitably now take longer. The DfT information is not specific to the relief road and covers any new schemes seeking approval.
“In light of this, it is right to defer any further work until the conclusion of the review. We will therefore not make a decision on submitting the business case until there is clear advice from DfT on its future budgets.”
Martin Taylor-Smith, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, said: “We will be completing the consultation, but other work on the project will be put on hold until the outcome of the spending review is clear. The scheme remains in the West Midland region’s programme of transport schemes and, once the spending review is completed, we will be able to consider the future programme for the project.”
Alan Mosley, chair of the council’s development services scrutiny committee, said: “We must hope that the consultation provides useful indications of public opinion and that the extensive work completed can prove of great value in planning an integrated transport plan for the future of Shrewsbury whatever the outcome.”
Geoff Black, convenor of the No Way! campaign group, said: “It is now time for Shropshire Council to face reality and abandon the NWRR once and for all and instead concentrate on viable and environmentally sympathetic transport schemes. We welcome the Department’s decision and hope it leads to a swift re-think by Shropshire Council.”
By Peter Kitchen