HEREFORDSHIRE Council chiefs say they will consider a link from Rotherwas across the River Wye to the Ledbury Road.

The previous council endorsed a motion by councillor Jim Kenyon to consider protecting an eastern route corridor as part of a core strategy review.

And now infrastructure and transport cabinet member John Harrington says the new administration is looking into the viability of an eastern bridge.

“While we haven’t made a decision on the western route because we haven’t reviewed it yet,” he said.

“There have been studies in the past, some have shown a reduction of as much as 29% over the bridge and a recent one showed not so much of a reduction.”

He said many businesspeople were supportive of an eastern crossing.

“Talking to a lot of businesses congestion seems to be more of an issue than distribution,” he said.

“They aren’t saying that the route is an issue, they are saying that congestion is the issue.

“An eastern bridge is something we know we want to look at.

“It’s a commitment and it’s a discussion we will have as an alliance.

“We need to work out if it’s worth it but there is certainly a lot of support from businesspeople.”

County council leaders decided to place on hold all plans for a western bypass and southern link road earlier this month.

They have commissioned a review of both projects to make an informed decision over their future.

Senior council officers have been authorised to take all operational decisions to scope the review work for both road schemes.

This work would be done within a budget of £70,000 for the Hereford bypass and £50,000 for the southern link road.