Shropshire Star comment: No money means no new road
Dear Mr Grayling. Get your finger out. Please.
That is the message being sent by Shropshire Council to Transport Secretary Chris Grayling in relation to the North West Relief Road in Shrewsbury.
At the moment the council is all dressed up, with nowhere to go. The seven-mile-long road will cost £71.4 million and will in effect complete the ring of the Shrewsbury ring road, a final piece in an infrastructure jigsaw.
There is a straightforward east to west route, which skirts round the south of the town. Try travelling east to west to the north of Shrewsbury and all suddenly comes to a stop in the Battlefield area. The new road would provide a missing link, connecting the planned Oxon link road with Battlefield.
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The council has made the case for the road. It says it will contribute almost £17m towards the cost. What it needs now is a clear announcement on funding the balance from the Government.
That has not been forthcoming, and we are slipping into another financial year with what is clearly the crucial element of the scheme missing. No money, no road.
Council leader Peter Nutting has now written to Mr Grayling to make the case for the road, pointing out that, to avoid unnecessary delay, some preparatory work has already been done in the expectation of an April announcement.
Financial limbo
If the work cannot continue as a consequence of there being no indications from the Government on the funding, then it will add an extra year’s delay to the project. The danger from the council’s point of view is slippage of the timescale will throw the whole scheme into doubt.
Currently, it is in a state of financial limbo and to continue to spend money working up a scheme that might, if the Government decided not to fund the project, fall by the wayside, is a waste at a time when no council can afford to waste money.
What is needed then is some clarity from Mr Grayling on the matter. Even if he does pledge the Government’s financial backing, the road, which has widespread but not universal support, is still going to be years away.
The council says the new road would cut journey times and would help cut congestion by taking traffic from other less suitable routes.
Shropshire Council needs to know where it stands, otherwise it risks throwing good money after bad - something for which Mr Grayling will have a big share of the blame.
