Senior Herefordshire politicians and officials have explained how the revived western bypass plan around Hereford will work.

What will the route be?

The five-mile “red route” from earlier studies starts from the current A49 north of Holmer, with further roundabout junctions with the A4103 Roman Road and A438 Kings Acre Road (though not with other roads), crossing the Wye south of Warham Court Farms to meet the A465 Belmont Road beyond Belmont Abbey.

The first phase will be to build the 2.3-mile southern link road to continue this round to join the current A49 at the existing roundabout at Grafton.

What will the effect be on inner Hereford?

A western bypass “is the only way of shifting traffic that doesn’t need to be in the city centre, out of it,” cabinet member for transport and infrastructure Coun Philip Price said.

Council leader Jonathan Lester added: “It will have a positive impact not just on congestion but air quality in the city.”

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The council’s corporate director for infrastructure and economy Ross Cook said that by “de-trunking” the current A49 in the city, “we can do more with the road” including promoting alternative modes of transport.

How will this affect housebuilding around the city?

“There is strong demand for new homes, of which over 16,000 are needed in the county,” Mr Cook said.

A thousand new homes are earmarked for the Three Elms area northwest of the city, along with employment land, he said, adding: “We need the infrastructure for that.”

What about the eastern river crossing?

Options for an eastern crossing from the A438 Ledbury Road to the Rotherwas Industrial Estate were published in December. But this “would not be as effective in meeting our key objectives”, Mr Cook said.

Coun Price said he had been “horrified” at the cost rise of this compared with previous estimates, to over £100 million. “But if the funding were available, we would still take that opportunity.”

What will it all cost?

“We have been fortunate that the HS2 cancellation has freed up money for transport infrastructure,” Coun Price said. The £101 million that Herefordshire is getting from this will fund the southern link road, and preparatory work for the main bypass, he confirmed.

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The “today cost” of the SLR is around £31 million, but this will likely have risen to £35 million by the time of its completion.

The second, main phase is currently put at £201 million, according to the council’s service manager for highways Mark Averill. “But we have built in inflation estimates, taking it up to £240-278 million.”

What’s the timescale for all this?

“We can deliver the southern relief road in late 2026 to early 2027,” Coun Price said.

The strategy document meanwhile puts the completion date of the main bypass at 2033.