MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire, The Rt Honorable Jesse Norman has confirmed a Hereford bypass is “not on the table.”
This comes from an interview I held with him on the 8th November, where i asked him to confirm his stance on the widely demanded Hereford bypass.
In the 1990s, a bypass was really considered, it was just a question of whether it was built on the east or the north of the city.
Both an eastern and western were contested by the council, and the decision was taken to a judge, who decided there would not be a bypass while the council could not decide on the location.
Jesse Norman gave me his opinion on having a bypass, saying “my position has always been that there should be two roads and two bridges. If you put a bypass to the west of the city you should also have an eastern river crossing”
In 2010, he referred to himself as “making such a pain of himself” that the conservative council commissioned a study on whether it would be possible to put a bridge in the east, and how much this would cost the city.
the study found that a bridge and road would be of the order of 25 million and would have “reduced traffic on the Edgar Street roundabout by 30% during peak times”
Skip to 2017, Jesse Norman is appointed Minister for Department of Transport.
What did this mean for a Hereford bypass?
The May government made a commitment to the city that there would be a bypass for the A49.
However, no plans came from this commitment.
Instead, in 2019 the council elections fell “at the moment of maximum anger with the then government” resulting in the public voting out the conservative council, and a Green-Independent coalition took power.
The Green-Independent coalition cancelled the bypass in 2021, with 27 votes for and 19 against.
In the opinion of Mr. Norman “the effect of those who would’ve voted conservative sitting on their hands stopped the only really advanced progress the county had made in 30 years”.
In 2023 there were attempts to resuscitate the idea of a bypass, however the motions lacked the public support required to make something out of nothing.
Jesse Norman is clear that he supports the bypass, stating “I’m supportive”, before stating “it [the bypass] will not go ahead for the foreseeable future”
