PLANS to fully dual the Southern Link Road from the Powick Roundabout to the M5 have taken a massive leap forward, say county council chiefs.
Work on extending the railway bridge over part of Worcester’s Southern Link Road is to be done at the end of this month.
The new bridge extension, which has been built next to where it will eventually live, has been under construction for the past few months.
And at the end of May the 1,500-tonne structure will be manouvered into place using specialist equipment.
Coun Ken Pollock, cabinet member for economy and infrastructure, said: “Seeing the bridge take shape over the last couple of months has been very exciting, not least from an engineering point of view but also as the construction of this bridge takes the county an important step closer to the Southern Link Road being dualled from the M5 to the Powick Roundabout.
“The Southern Link Road is an essential part of Worcestershire’s strategic road network and provides an important link between the M5 and Great Malvern, the wider Malvern Hills district, Herefordshire and Wales.
“It is also an important bypass to the city centre, especially for those in south and west Worcester, and provides one of only two road crossings of the River Severn in Worcester city.”
With more than 30,000 cars using the road every weekday, dualling it will help ease congestion.
The railway bridge extension will support A4440 dualling project between the Norton and Whittington roundabouts.
Once this has been completed all eastbound traffic will travel on two lanes beneath the existing railway bridge while westbound traffic will travel on two lanes beneath it.
Excavation of the railway embankment for the new part of the bridge and the moving of the bridge extension into its final resting place will take place during a full closure of the A4440, including the footway, between the Norton and Whittington roundabouts from 8pm on Thursday, May 24 and 6am on Friday, June 1.
A diversion route will be signposted and signs with advanced warning of the closure will be on site.
Rail closers will also be needed to complete the work.
Replacement buses will be provided by Great Western Railway (GWR) between Worcester Shrub Hill and Pershore to minimise disruption to rail users during the closure.
This will be in force from Saturday, May 26 to Thursday, May 31.
Rail users will be given advanced notice of these arrangements by GWR and the other train operating companies whose services will be affected.
