A ‘Relief’ Road for Hereford — or Not???

The latest contribution to the debate over a bypass for Hereford has been made available to mark the newly elected council’s first Annual General Meeting.

The new council proposes to spend tens of thousands of pounds to carry out a poll on a ‘relief road’ for Hereford which it has made a fundamental part of the County’s development plan.

The report, “A ‘Relief’ Road for Hereford — Or Not???”, examines claims about the road made by Herefordshire Council in light of the Council’s own evidence, including replies by the Council to questions from members of the public.

It finds that claims made for the road are not supported by the evidence and that in many instances the evidence contradicts the claim.

Congestion: The Council’s traffic evidence shows that traffic on Hereford’s road network will grow and journey times will increase. Reducing car use depends on investment in sustainable transport measures.

Through traffic: The road is overkill for dealing with through traffic because the biggest component of Hereford’s traffic is local.

Freeing up road space for alternatives to the car: The Council says road space is needed for bus lanes, but its own reports show that the proportion of trips made by bus will fall from 2008 to 2026. The case for the road depends on very low levels of cycling in the future.

Improving air quality: The Council did not consider the impact of the proposed road on air quality and there is no evidence that road building is the best way to improve Hereford’s air quality.

The road is popular: Evidence on the predicted impacts of the road proposal was not available to the public until after the Council had determined to include the road in the development plan. The public has not been offered alternatives to road building. Even so, other evidence also commissioned by the Council indicates that across the county only a minority of people support expenditure on a bypass of Hereford, whilst public transport has a very high priority.

Even if the road lived up to the claims made for it by the Council, the Council has no plans to demonstrate that it can be delivered until after the public consultation process is over. But if the road can’t be delivered, according to new Council Leader John Jarvis, the core strategy for the county would have to be ‘revisited’ — and would have to undergo major revisions.

The report concludes that the divergence between the evidence and the Council’s public statements points to a lack of analysis and scrutiny within the Council.

It recommends that the Council should not re-start its consultation on the Local Development Framework, including its proposed poll on the road, until

• alternatives are properly tested,
• the viability study has been completed and made available to the public and
• consultation documents accurately reflect the evidence base.

Paige Mitchell, the report’s author, is a freelance transport policy researcher and a long time student of transport in Hereford. She said:

‘The decision about the road is arguably one of the most important facing the people of Herefordshire, given its high impacts and influence on the future growth of the county. It’s important that the decision should be based on sound evidence and proper scrutiny.’

“A ‘Relief’ Road for Hereford — or Not???’ is the first report from ‘Questions? Questions!’, a co-operative effort to increase public scrutiny of Herefordshire Council.