LEP welcomes green light for new route to cut congestion in Stafford

A major road scheme to ease traffic congestion in the centre of Stafford and support new homes has been approved today, November 5.

The Stafford Western Access Route will connect the A518 Newport Road with the A34 Foregate Street, helping to reduce congestion in the town centre – particularly Newport Road east of Kingsway, Station Road, Chell Road, Gaol Square and the A34Foregate Street south of the scheme. Members of the county council’s planning committee gave the scheme unanimous backing at a meeting this morning.

Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for economy, environment and transport Mark Winnington said: “This is a big step forward and means we can get on with the job. We all know how congested the town centre can be at certain times and with more development planned we need to act now. The western access route will enable new homes to be built on the western side of Stafford which are vital for the growth of the town. It will support the town’s future prosperity and mean it will remain attractive to investors in the long-term.”

The western access route project is backed by the Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire Local Enterprise Partnership, which secured funding through the Government’s Growth Deal.

Local enterprise partnership chairman David Frost CBE said: “We are very pleased to see another of our Growth Deal projects able to move forward. The Stafford Western Access Route is extremely important for the county town’s growth and forms part of the LEP’s strategic plan. This much-needed project is part of our wider drive to attract investment, create jobs and deliver new homes.”

The project will be carried out in three sections – from Foregate Street to Doxey Road, along Doxey Road to include the rail bridge and then linking up to Martin Drive. The project will include the development of a low viaduct over the River Sow, newly created habit to link up with Doxey and Tillington Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and flood compensatory works within Doxey and Tillington Marshes SSSI. Doxey Road will be realigned, a new roundabout built to replace the existing one and the rail bridge improved. New cycle paths will also be installed, along with a new pedestrian crossing on Martin Drive.

Work on the first section is set to begin in the summer or autumn of 2016.