Kepax Walking and Cycling Bridge

Improving walking and cycling routes around the county is a priority for Worcestershire County Council and Worcester City Council.

The scheme to deliver a new walking and cycling bridge across the River Severn in Worcester was approved by the Council’s Planning and Regulatory Committee on 28 September 2021.

The bridge will run from Gheluvelt Park, to the east of the river, to the Kepax site in St John’s, to the west.

The bridge will be a welcome addition to the popular riverside route. For the first time it will allow users to enjoy a figure-of-eight route along the River Severn, from the very well used Diglis bridge (which has had over 3 million users since it was opened in 2010) in the south to the recently refurbished Sabrina Bridge near the city centre and this new bridge in the north and back again.

The scheme will give the opportunity for people to walk and cycle much more quickly between the Henwick Park area (and further afield like Hallow and Broadheath) on the west and Barbourne and Claines in the east. In addition, improvements to the existing walking and cycling network will connect residents via the National Cycle Network.

These include:

• a new access path provided over the Kepax site to get to the bridge
• providing pedestrian/cycle links from the bridge to the National Cycle Network, route 45
• improvements to links on both sides of the river including measures such as signage, removal of “pinch-points” and surfacing where appropriate

The scheme will encourage the use of alternative modes of transport for journeys around the city generally, helping to reduce levels of congestion, improve safety and air quality and promote health and wellbeing.

The bridge would be a cable stayed structure, the main span would be supported by cables connected to a single tower or “pylon” on the east side of the river. The final details are yet to be fully agreed. Once the bridge is built, the intention is that the bridge is to be open 24/7.

Other Considerations

Additional dog waste and litter bins

These will be considered as part of the review process and additional bins will be provided as deemed necessary.

Environment

A small number of trees, mostly on the west side of the river, have been removed to accommodate the bridge, however, this has been kept to a minimum and the work was supervised by an ecologist. There are no plans to remove any more trees and replacement planting will be carried out nearby.

The bridge lands on a former landfill site, however, the bridge and access path have been designed in such a way as to have minimal impact on the site during the construction phase and it allows for the type of “settlement” movements that can occur on sites of this kind. As now, gas levels will continue to be monitored by Worcestershire County Council.

Much effort is taken to protect local wildlife, signs will be in place on the junction of Pope Iron Road and Waterworks Road and at the site exit to warn drivers of swans on the road, works will not take place in the river during fish migration season and intrusive works will not take place near to where animals are nesting.

Lighting

The bridge will be lit by under rail lighting and there will be low level LED lights installed on the west of the river. All lighting is designed to be sympathetic to local residents and wildlife.

Local residents

Every effort would be made to ensure that any impact would be kept to a minimum by, for example, restricting delivery and work times and not allowing contractors’ vehicles to be parked in residential areas.

Nearby areas

There are no plans to open a park or play area, there would be a wide path crossing the landfill site between the bridge and Horsford Road only with no access to the Kepax site outside of this path.

Parking

Parking will be monitored on both sides of the river and a number of measures could be put in place, if necessary, to combat unsafe or inconsiderate parking. A resident parking scheme has recently been considered on the Barbourne side of the river, and we are investigating more effective use of local car parks.

Recycling Centre

The access road would still be closed when the Recycling Centre is not open, however, there would be a “bypass” for pedestrians and cyclists to afford access to and from the bridge when the gates are closed.

Safety

There is no reason to believe that provision of the bridge would lead to an increase in anti-social behaviour and there were no reported increases in anti-social behaviour when Diglis Bridge opened, indeed, an increase in legitimate footfall often leads to a reduction in anti-social behaviour; nevertheless, the police were consulted as part of the planning process.

We are currently investigating the provision of CCTV in partnership with colleagues at Worcester City Council.

Working over or near to a river

Flooding is taken into consideration, with the site liable to flooding. A plan is in place to move equipment to higher ground if needed and continue to operate on site where possible. Certain work will be planned for certain times of the year to reduce the risk of flooding on the programme. There are also restrictions to working over a river, including taking into consideration fish migration season.