Shropshire set to scrap ‘unaffordable’ north west relief road
Shropshire Council’s troubled Shrewsbury bypass project is officially set to get the chop – days after the council received a £190m bailout which saved it from going bankrupt.
Around £32m has already been sunk into design and enabling works for the controversial four-mile long road, which has seen costs spiral to upwards of £160m since an outline business case was put forward for the scheme in 2019.
Work was paused on the North West Relief Road project due to cost concerns in June last year, with the scheme set to be shelved for good according to a report, which has recommended formally scrapping the scheme at the council’s cabinet this week.
Concerns over the cost of the project rose almost hand-in-hand with fears over Shropshire Council’s worsening financial position, which was alleviated by a central government-backed emergency loan of £192.8m last week.
“The point has now been reached where it is clear that the council cannot afford to build the NWRR and accordingly, it is now necessary to seek the formal cancellation of the project,” said the report, due to be heard by councillors on 26 February.
“As a result of a combination of factors, the original estimated cost of the NWRR project has significantly increased since originally assessed; from the Outline Business Case £74.2m in 2018 to £162.4m at the Full Business Case in 2024 (at current prices in 2024).
“At this cost and given other pressures on the Council’s revenue and capital budgets, which have become apparent over the course of this financial year, the council is no longer able to proceed with this project as it has become unaffordable.”
While the report recommends that councillors take the formal decision to scrap the NWRR scheme this week, the future of the related Oxon Link Road project remains unclear.
Shropshire Council says the mile-long link road, which received £4.2m of funding from the now-defunct Marches Growth Partnership in 2015 and would have become part of the overall route of the NWRR, is currently subject to a “separate assessment of options”.
Shropshire Council’s cabinet will vote on proposals to scrap the North West Relief Road project at a meeting on Thursday, 26 February.
