Specialists brought in to work on bypass plans

A team of specialists has been appointed to work on plans for a bypass, a council says.

Planning permission is already in place for the Hereford Western Bypass which will see a new road join the A49 to the A465.

Now consultants AECOM will work with the council over the next two years to review and update the plans for the first part of the scheme.

Plans for the bypass - or southern link road - were shelved in 2021 but were brought back by the Conservatives who now run the council.

More than £40m of funding has been committed by the authority for the first part of the route with £760,000 also set aside to develop a business case for the second.

Construction work on the first section could start in late 2026 with an estimated total cost of the road put at more than £300m, a spokesperson for Herefordshire Council said.

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