A new western bypass round Hereford will enable more sustainable transport alternatives within the city, Herefordshire’s head of transport has insisted.
In a written question to cabinet member for transport and infrastructure Coun Philip Price, Leominster Green councillor Mark Woodall asked whether the council will lower congestion and carbon emissions, and improve road safety and health, “without diverting all our funding and resources to a hugely expensive out-of-town project”.
He added that residents “want improvements as soon as possible, not in 2033 when the bypass may or may not be ready”.
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Coun Price replied: “Lowering congestion and carbon emission, improving road users’ safety and health, place-making and active travel are premised on the diverting of substantial quantities of traffic away from the city centre.
“Currently there is nowhere else for traffic to go.”
Among nine further questions to Coun Price from members of the public, a Mr A Morawiecki of Breinton asked what the impact in and around the city would be of “investing in expanding the public transport offer”.
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Coun Price said that the 2020 study which now forms the basis of the council’s transport plans put transport proposals into “packages” of measures. And that being tied to investment in sustainable transport, the western bypass option “will create the conditions to support more walking, cycling and use of public transport in the city”.
Public transport use in Hereford and the wider county is currently “among the lowest in the country”, he added, and said the council also plans an electric vehicle strategy.
And in response to former county councillor for the city Jeremy Milln regarding the likely “induced traffic” from a new bypass, Coun Price said: “I fully recognise that building new road capacity can lead to induced demand and additional traffic.”
The questions came ahead of a cabinet meeting later today (March 28) which is due to approve the new roads strategy for Hereford, of which the revived western bypass plan is a key part.
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