Another £17m to be ploughed into controversial Shrewsbury road scheme
An extra £17 million will be ploughed into the controversial Shrewsbury North West Relief Road project, councillors have decided.
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Leaders of Shropshire Council say they need the £16.981 million on top of the £27million already allocated because of a relentless rise in inflation and delays in the council planning process which have caused costs to increase massively.
A meeting of the full Shropshire Council on Thursday rejected an amendment to only spend much less on producing a full business case and wait before moving "utilities".
The proceedings came after another protest from objectors outside Shirehall in Shrewsbury.
Councillor Dan Morris, the council's highways chief, said the road is a "critical and urgent project" vital to reducing congestion and creating safer roads in Shrewsbury.
He spoke of the "chaos" in the town before the A5 Southern Bypass was built and slammed a "vocal minority" of opponents.
He also appealed for colleagues not to confuse the council's revenue budget, which needs to prune £61m, and the capital fund.
Opponent Councillor Julian Dean claimed that residents and councillors are "still being kept in the dark" over the total cost of the highly controversial project.
"This £17m is a punt on the scheme reaching a sympathetic minister," he added, pointing to the possibility of there being a change of Government come the next General Election.
Supporter Councillor Nick Bardsley said he remembers what Shrewsbury was like before the bypass that was built in the 1990s.
"There was appalling traffic congestion and pollution," he said.
