A MULTI-MILLION pound bid to end the daily traffic misery endured by Pershore motorists has won the support of the town’s MP.
Harriett Baldwin has thrown her weight behind a bid by the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) for a £35million cash injection to fund projects across the county.
Should business chiefs be successful, £4.8million will then be spent on the long-awaited Pershore Northern Link Road.
The new road will connect Pershore to the A44 and bring to an end nearly two decades of debate about the much-needed scheme.
It’s hoped the new road, which will link up with the Keytech Business Park, will attract more businesses to Pershore and end the traffic nightmare faced by many residents on a daily basis.
The LEP made the bid for £35million in extra funding from the Government’s Growth Deal back in July.
The Northern Link Road is a key aim in the LEP’s Strategic Economic Plan which says the road could create 1,025 jobs and enable development of 9.5 ha commercial land for agri-tech development.
Together with Evesham’s MP Nigel Huddleston, Mrs Baldwin was recently briefed on the plans which will also help ease traffic for lorries and commercial vehicles heading towards the motorway.
“This is a much-needed road project that will help Pershore residents and businesses,” Mrs Baldwin said.
“I back this project whole-heartedly and am pleased to see the local authorities putting in a formal bid for funding to deliver it.
Mr Huddleston added: “Like Harriett, I have had constituents raising their concerns about increasing congestion and welcome the strategic attempts to plan for future growth.
“We are keen to back this plan and look forward to pressing the case for further investment in Worcestershire’s major roads in the coming weeks and months,” he added.
As part of the work, the Pinvin crossroads would also be improved to curb a pinch point which has regularly seen congestion for almost a decade.
The Observer reported in February on warnings from leading Pershore county councillor Liz Tucker that more needed to be done to tackle the problems faced by town motorists.
“The need to change the speed the traffic lights change is not enough on its own. The long term solution is the Northern Link Road,” she said.
“Improving the lights at the junction will keep the traffic flowing. Done together with work on the Northern Link Road it will solve the problems faced by motorists every day,” she added.
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