Southern Link Road Preferred Route

[ragwert]

This 25 million could and can be spent on what Hereford needs,an Eastern by-pass.
Again this decision shows that those in power are 100% clueless to the Cities traffic problems

[Roger]

This 25 million could and can be spent on what Hereford needs,an Eastern by-pass.

Again this decision shows that those in power are 100% clueless to the Cities traffic problems

 

From a business point of view it doesn't make sense to go on the Western side with this relief Road ... I would imagine far more business would get attracted from the English side as opposed to Mid Wales ... 

[Cloudberry]

From the Hereford Times: “The route selected - with a project name of SC2 – leaves the A49 to pass through the centre of Grafton Wood and continue westwards over Grafton Lane and Withy Brook before veering north-west to a proposed new roundabout near the A465/B4349 junction.â€

 

If other routes were discounted because they would go through ancient woods of Newton Coppice and Hayleasow Wood, why can the SC2 route through Grafton Wood be thought acceptable? Grafton Wood is also designated as ancient woodland.

[Glenda Powell]

When this was passed at cabinet last Thursday, the opposition groups were against it, there is a possibility of it going to judicial review or an inquiry. I agree about Grafton wood, and when this road was agreed back in 2005 it had a river crossing from Belmont to Breinton without the river crossing to take the traffic from A465 it is not going to work

[herefordman75]

Hello all, new to this, but bear with me.

The issue of a Hereford bypass is one of my pet grumbles, why we have to be the only City on the A49 without one is ridiculous, as it is strangling the life out of the county.

I can see why the council want to go East - they want to open up the land at Stretton Sugwas etc for housing (which would part pay for the "bypass" - economic sense really), anyone else seen the long term housing plan? 3500 homes in Kings Acre by 2030 if my memory remembers correctly.

Anyway, a Western route is a much more sound idea. FIrstly it links the A4103 and A49 to Rotherwas, there could be an exit onto the Ledbury road, but with a weight limit to prevent HGV access to and from iy maybe? I know there are some issues with wildlife and plants etc, but didn't the same thing happen with the Newbury bypass? and that has flourished since it was built into a wildlife haven (anyone remember Stumpy?)

Plus it would be shorter, saving money, and fuel due to the reduced distance that goods traffic from Worcester/Shrewsbury would have to travel, reducing the environmental impact.

The new link road (to me anyway) is pointless, as there are very few HGV's that use the A465 due to the height limit at Belmont and Pontrilas, so what commercial traffic is likely to use it exactly? (think someone else mentioned that point somewhere else too?) My other concern is the link between the A465 and the Clehonger road. Looking at the plan, you will approach the new link from Clehonger, and when you get to Mcintyre's Corner (as it's known) you then hit what looks like an S bend to branch off to the new roundabout, anyone else remember the number of RTC's that have happened along that stretch, surely adding a chicane is going to cause a few more issues?

[Ubique]

Hi Herefordman , welcome , just a thought , think you have got your East and West the wrong way round .

[dippyhippy]

Hello there Hereford man 75, and the very warmest of welcomes to you!

 

I had the same thought as Ubique!

 

Many on here, myself included, think East is the way forward. It is far more cost effective, would provide a second river crossing, and would link in with the rail plans for Rotherwas.

 

I look forward to hearing your thoughts, it's great to get opinions from new posters!

[herefordman75]

Oops,got my wellies on the wrong feet :)

[greenknight]

Good evening one and all. As it stands this is a road to nowhere without a new river crossing! To be honest we actually need a ring road and two lanes to boot otherwise the casualty rate will increase on our roads. I live on the Tupsley side and have family on the other and we all agree that the only solution ultimately is to start the process of a complete ring road (two lanes)and be done with it.Herefordman75 is quite right about the Newbury bypass (which is two lanes).The bio diversity has improved along this site as it did along the Twyford cutting where indeed I was an activist many many years ago.Hopefully older and wiser I would rather crack on and get this done now allowing nature to thrive along created edges rather than continually returning to extend and revise. We are a little obsessed about Rotherwas yet there are other sites in Herefordshire like Leominster that have an EZ which has struggled.You may think I'm mad however I believe we could actually improve wildlife habits by supporting the development of a bypass however not through the suggested wood.

[dippyhippy]

Welcome back Green Knight, I'm so pleased to read your thoughts again.

 

You make some great points, and I'm sure that this is a discussion which will run for quite some time.

[Cloudberry]

Ah, Newbury, Greenknight, I know it well! Unfortunately that by-pass has not been the expected solution, and is no longer enough to prevent congestion in the centre of town. Just like here, the Newbury Today forum folk are desperate to try turning off traffic lights and making more safe cycleways.

 

June 2014: “Newbury Council urge residents to bike, bus or walk to avoid congestion† - though they don’t seem that keen on actually spending on cycleways etc.!

http://www.newburytoday.co.uk/2014/travel-advisors-to-visit-5000-local-homes

 

With wildlife, it’s true it can get better after road building because roadside verges are left alone, undisturbed. But you can’t generalise, because the ways biodiversity and how different species depend on one another are so complicated. In Herefordshire, there are a lot of unusual wildlife habitats that are very old, and once destroyed they really can’t be replaced.

[dippyhippy]

Hi Cloudberry!

 

Do you know anything about the road scheme in York? I'm sure I recall reading something, somewhere that they had a by pass which would mean crossing land which has significant similarities to our own Lugg Flats. They achieved this, and studies showed that within I think it was five years, the natural habitat was flourishing once more.

 

I just wondered if you, or any other poster knew anything about this??

[Cloudberry]

Sorry Dippy, I know nothing about roads round York!

 

As regards the Lugg Meadows, everyone knows they are special because a local book was written about them. What many people don’t know is that older residents remember them being ploughed up to grow wartime potatoes. So although the site has a very long history it does look as if the wildlife seen today was restored after the war.

 

There have been lots of studies around the Lugg Meadows,  - it’s close to the Nature Trust headquarters after all. But there are many other potentially “exciting†sites in Herefordshire that have not yet been looked at in any detail. For example, how much is known about the woodland remaining from ancient Haywood Forest in the vicinity of the proposed Southern Link Road? Once you cut down ancient woodland, that’s it, gone, along with all the beasties etc. that depend on the special ecology of ancient trees.

[dippyhippy]

Hi Cloudberry, thanks for responding so quickly!

 

My thoughts mirror yours with regard to the ancient woodland. I was wondering whether from an environmental point of view, it would be possible to put forward the case that to go East, and then across the Lugg Flats would in the long term be far less destructive, than this proposed route.

 

Whenever The Lugg Flats get mentioned as a possible route, folks seem to jump up and down, and shout no, no! As you have said in your post, this area does have the ability to regenerate and recover, whereas the ancient woodland does not.

 

To me, not only is East more cost effective, and will cause less long term environmental damage, it also links up with the other transport plans for the area with the railway, and of course, the Sustrans cycle path.

 

Nobody seems to have taken an "overall" picture of this Southern Link Road plan.

 

I'll see if I can find out a bit more about York!

[greenknight]

Hi Cloudberry..it's true what you say about the A34 around Newbury. It has already been overwhelmed by more traffic and significant housing development and the same can be said for Winchester. The problem with both places is that as soon as there is a problem at Chievely(A34/M4) or Winnal (M3/A34) traffic heads off looking for alternative routes. It's also true about local biodiversity as those areas are chalk download very different to Herefordshire. There are rare wildlife habits in this county including traditional orchards however I will stick my neck out and say that modern day farming practices don't help maintain certain bird species. Historic WOodland has to be protected and this new suggested route to nowhere runs straight through one.

[greenknight]

Sorry that's downland ladies.

It's quicker to recover a lost meadow buts it's a lifetime to replace mature oak woodland.

[megilleland]

One of the problems that an eastern route around the city would have to contest with is the flood waters. The obvious route would need to be right up against the urban fringe out of the flood plain. Here is the Environment Agency flood situation for the east of the city.

 

 

The security of the water meadows is of prime importance and a solution could be a road elevated over the meadows on single piers which would cause minimum damage to the ground and allow water to move freely. it doesn't have to be way up in the air, above water level and able to allow farm vehicles to pass under. If well designed it could be an elegant structure sweeping across the countryside. Look at how the Victorians built structures ie bridges and viaducts and are still used and have now become national monuments. 

 

Any causeway would be a disaster as it would hold water back that naturaly drains slowly away. An elevated road could take the route east of Bartestree towards the A438 and provide a bypass for Mordiford.

 

But how much would this cost? Where does Jesse Norman's route go and what are the costs for this route?

[megilleland]

Red route close to urban fringe non elevated. Yellow route elevated over flood plain.

 

 

 

[megilleland]

Red route close to urban fringe non elevated. Yellow route elevated over flood plain.

 

 

 

[dippyhippy]

Yes Megilleland!

 

It's this idea that is ringing bells with me! When I get more time on the weekend, I shall endeavour to find out a bit more!

[greenknight]

Well I would not have a problem with either and I'm in Tupsley I guess it comes down to money.I guess with both options there is little room for in filling with houses which I guess would not appeal to the Council ?

[greenknight]

Going back to my old home of Winchester they preserved an old railway viaduct that ran close to the M3 and crossed the river Itchen. It now forms part of an active cycleway that takes you right into Winchester close to the cathedral. Brick built structure that still looks great. It can be done!

[Denise Lloyd]

Yes having had computer nightmare problems I am back.  In Somerset where they had all the terrible flooding (I've forgotten the name of the exact place) an elevated road is now being constructed to help alleviate the situation.  But for reasons best known to HC they are determined to go west look how PA's at Bartestree are being turned down yet PA's on the west are being passed more freely.

[twowheelsgood]

The red route would need to include a dramatic upgrade of the existing Worcester bound road over the Flats - very narrow, worn out and dangerous. Cycled it recently and scared myself half to death. 

[Ubique]

From Here for Hereford FB

Clouds looming for Herefordshire Council's plans for a Southern Link Road? Despite Cabinet recommending their preferred route SC2 (joining the A49 with the A465 across open countryside south west of Hereford) for approval, the Council's General Overview and Scrutiny Committee has called the decision in. The Committee will meet at 2.00 p.m. in Shire Hall on Tuesday 2 December 2014 to scrutinise the decision and possibly refer it back to Cabinet. See http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/documents/g5296/Agenda%20frontsheet%20Tuesday%2002-Dec-2014%2014.00%20General%20Overview%20Scrutiny%20Committee.pdf?T=0 The Southern Link road was consulted upon as part of a South Wye Transport Package…

[Glenda Powell]

I was there on all three days of the South Wye Transport Package consultation,only 7other councillors attended on the last evening an hour before the consultation closed. The three councillors that have called it in only one lives north of the city, the others live in Kington and Bromyard. That said, I have commented before on this it will not work without the river crossing which is not a part of this plan, but was in the original plan in 2004/5.

[stupidfrustration]

Agreed Glenda - why wont they do another river crossing?

[twowheelsgood]

Cost - £25m upwards (a lot upwards depending on how much the contractor can shaft the council).

[Denise Lloyd]

Courtesy of Here for Hereford -

 

Here for Hereford â€@HereforHereford  2h2 hours ago

Agenda for Gen O&S mtg 2.12.14 ref call-in of decision on Southern Link Road (described as South Wye Trans Package) http://councillors.herefordshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=809&MId=5301&Ver=4 â€¦

[Jonny]

I vote for one of these spanning across the river wye AND the entire Lugg meadows, No sane human being could possibly object to an object of such beauty, at a very reasonable price of only £312,143,892.98 a fraction of the cost of HS2! (1/130th)