Shrewsbury relief road project 'not cost effective' for tackling pollution, campaigners warn after new report

Shropshire Council faces questions over the impact of the North West Relief Road (NWRR) on Shrewsbury’s air quality after a new report was submitted to cabinet on Wednesday.

The Shrewsbury Air Quality Action Plan (AQAP) has been several years in preparation and was developed following the establishment of an Air Quality Management Area (AQMA) near the town’s railway station because of pollution in that area. This was due to nitrogen dioxide levels surpassing national standards.

However, campaigners say the plan raises more questions over the scheme, saying that there is an incorrect cost/benefit calculation which overstates the reduction in nitrogen dioxide.

The report also outlines that the Castle Foregate Gyratory changes are now expected to result in a reduction of concentrations below the Air Quality Objective (AQO) level, without the need for the road.

Mike Richardson, an air quality campaigner from Better Shrewsbury Transport and Friends of the Earth, says: “We regard this plan as a missed opportunity. The council continues to push for the NWRR, even though the benefits of the proposed road offers marginal ‘relief’ in terms of Shrewsbury’s air quality when compared to the impact of the Castle Foregate Gyratory upgrade that will be ready by 2025. 

“Yet again it seems that the council is overstating the alleged benefits of this expensive road project when the reality is that it isn’t a cost effective way to tackle Shrewsbury’s air quality levels. For residents living and working around the station, cleaning up the air is an urgent necessity for health.”

It comes after a turbulent week for the relief road project. Last week it was revealed that the scheme’s carbon emissions had more than doubled, while external auditors slammed the project’s finances revealing a shortfall of over £90m. 

At the same time Shropshire Council announced that Mark Barrow, its executive director of place and a key figure in the NWRR project, would be taking voluntary redundancy, just days ahead of when the road’s Full Business Case was due to be submitted to council. The document is now not expected to be submitted until the new year.

Campaigners say they are also frustrated that the new plan discounts the idea of improving the town’s bus fleet by using electric vehicles or Euro 6 vehicles – ones that meet the Euro VI emission standards, which reduces nitrogen oxide emissions by up to 90%. 

According to the new air quality plan this was shelved because of cost and the assumption that the NWRR and the gyratory would reduce the bus movements along Castle Foregate where the highest nitrogen dioxide concentrations were observed.

Mr Richardson added: “Council leader Lezley Picton has repeatedly said that the NWRR will improve air quality. But yet again it seems that the NWRR is over promising and under delivering. 

“Why spend almost £200m on a road that doesn’t do the job? The air quality plan is deeply flawed. 

“The Big Town Plan for Shrewsbury includes trying to open up railway station access from Abbey Foregate, for example. Where is the benefit analysis for this in the AQAP? 

“What other measures have not been considered, like more pedestrian footbridges, circulating free electric shuttle buses, and other options? 

“Even if funding may not currently be available, if such things are not on a wish list, they will probably never happen. It’s time to take the flawed NWRR out of the equation and get on with improving Shrewsbury’s air quality properly.”

Dan Morris, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways, said: “The areas within Shrewsbury town centre that are monitored as air quality zones exist due to the levels of traffic congestion regularly experienced.  

“One of the key aims of the NWRR is to remove traffic from the town centre that is simply crossing through it and adding to the unsustainable levels of congestion.

“Put simply, doing nothing is not an option. Equally, there is no other realistic alternative that costs less, produces less carbon, and still delivers the benefits that the NWRR will see.”

He added: “There is clear evidence of the many benefits of the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road (NWRR) for people across Shropshire. 

“Completing the missing link in Shrewsbury’s outer ring road will reduce average journey times around the town by 17 minutes. It will deliver major reductions in traffic, congestion and air pollution in Shrewsbury and many surrounding villages, boost public transport, cycling and walking, and attract new jobs and investment into the county. 

"Organisations like Shrewsbury and Telford Hospital Trust, Midlands Connect, Shrewsbury BID, Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, the Albrighton Estate and the West Midlands Combined Authority all see the benefits this completion of the ring road will bring.”