The £6.23m bridge cash could be better spent on other projects

I UNDERSTAND Worcestershire County Council is so desperate to spend large sums of money on pedestrian and cycling improvements that a practically unused A38 bridge replacement is likely.

Perhaps there are alternatives. It may surprise readers and the WCC that there is a footpath along most of the A491 Lydiate Ash to Handley road.

Surprise them because it has almost disappeared beneath a carpet of weeds and overgrown hedges.

This path is still used by the inhabitants of Fairfield and Romsley and leisure walkers who terminate their journey at Lydiate Ash, no bus service after 5.30pm six days per week and none at all on Sunday.

They leave bus and walk the well-maintained Birmingham side of the road, daringly cross the motorway island and proceed toward Hagley.

To the north side of the road sections of path appear out of the weeds towards the bottom of the dip then disappear again within yards beneath overgrown trees forcing walkers to face oncoming traffic until Money Lane – quite exciting.

Odd narrow sections of tarmac appear along the next 200 to 300 yards until we reach the quarry and commercial property area. Here the wide verge allows the path to move away from the road but that wide verge is so overgrown that this path has disappeared.

Clearance of this section would vastly improve safety and perhaps deter locals from using it as a garden waste flytip site.

We progress to the Fairfield island, by far the most dangerous section, where the path follows the old road, once upon a time, now only passable for machete equipped explorers. (Police frown on machete equipped bus passengers).

Again you are forced into the road to face oncoming traffic. Strangely locals have been able to clear part of the path from the Hagley end to access a mountain bike site where local authorities have been unable to do so.

From here, except for occasional overgrown hedges a narrow path of what appears to be beaten grass and earth improves progress.

Occasional glimpses of crumbling tarmac show the true construction. The path continues to Clent where locals must be applauded for maintaining their section of the path.

Repair and maintenance of this and similar paths would be more useful than a rarely used A38 bridge.

In many parts path foundations will still exist with costs further subsidised by hedge owners being requested to maintain their boundaries.

A bridge size £6.23million budget would cover many miles of pathway and encourage more safe walking.

In the meantime A491 users may continue to play ‘spot the footpath’.

Richard Whitehouse

Romsley

Council should re-examine its plans and consult on bridge proposals

THE RESIDENTS who are currently against the building of a £6.23million footbridge at Old Station Road have irrespective of multiple letters, press articles and now a petition presented to the council chamber last week, failed to get Councillor Amos or the Highways Team to attend an on site meeting to discuss the proposal.

The local group have been working behind the scenes with data gained through the Freedom Of Information Act and found some glaring issues with the Highways proposal.

A strategic business case which appears to be the driver for the footbridge has in addition to some significant data errors, a mishmash of increased pedestrian and cycle journey forecasts, none of which can be traced to the planned junction improvements.

It’s especially difficult to see how claims of a massive increase in A38 crossings can be made when there’s a total absence of pedestrian or cycling data for the existing and future crossing points.

It’s clear there’s little usage of the Old Station Road crossing and residents believe it doesn’t need a massive bridge as the existing ground level crossing could be improved.

Of greater concern is the fact that the Charford Road crossing that sees hundreds of schoolchildren streaming across the A38 daily, has had a pedestrian footbridge ruled out, as it’s deemed too difficult to provide a suitable design.

Many people believe the proposed bridge is simply a means of proving to Highways England that an Active Travel Plan element exists in the wider A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Plan, for which funding will only be given if pedestrian and cycle improvements are identified. I am saddened that the Highways Authority are continuing to spend monies on the detail design of the bridge when the outcome of the current consultation is outstanding.

Earlier this week the Prime Minister, backed by the cabinet, announced various layers of tax increases – in addition it’s likely that council taxes will rise and public spending will tighten.

Should anyone be spending £6.23m on a bridge that’s located in the wrong place and likely to be used by few.

The Charford road site should be re-examined and the council must engage with their residents and make decisions based on data not speculation.

R Hipkins

Bromsgrove

EDITOR’S COMMENT

CONGRATULATIONS to British tennis sensation Emma Raducanu – what she accomplished on Saturday was truly inspirational.

She epitomises how we all should be – not just in tennis or sport – but in life in general.

She had a goal and has worked hard to get where she wanted to be, earning her just reward.

Hopefully her success will lead to more children and young people picking up a racket to give tennis a go, boosting local clubs and the grassroots game.