WITH the the first stage of the dualling of Carrington Bridge over the Severn complete, and the news that further up the A4440 Southern Link Road, Broomhall Way footbridge over is set to have its main span installed this weekend, we thought we’d delve into our files and dig out some photographs from down the years.

The idea to create a southern by-pass for Worcester had been kicking about for decades until work was finally started in the early 1980s.

Worcester News:

March 1983 and transportation committee chairman Ron Carrington puts in the first marker post for the route of the southern link road

One of the problems had been the cost of creating a raised road across the flood meadows of two rivers, the Severn and the Teme, which included the site of the 1651 Battle of Worcester, and then there was the building of the bridge itself.

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The project was completed in 1984 and then there was the matter of naming the new bridge, until then known simply as “the new bridge”. Eventually the decision was taken to name it after Ron Carrington, the county councillor who had been its staunchest supporter.

Cllr Carrington was chairman of the then joint Hereford-Worcester County Council between 1989 and 1993 and played an important role in the planning, design and construction of the bridge.