Plan unveiled for new city centre walking and cycling route

Plans have been unveiled to create an improved walking and cycling link between Worcester city centre and the area around Shrub Hill railway station.

A planning application has been submitted to create a new five-metre wide pathway between Pheasant Street, opposite the Asda car park, to Padmore Street and the existing Cromwell Street bridge over the canal.

The scheme would also include improvements to the bridge and parts of Cromwell Street on the eastern side of the canal, in order to create a new way of getting between the city centre and Shrub Hill without having to use a car or bus.

The planning application will form an important part of the broader regeneration of the area around the canal and Shrub Hill station, which will create new homes, employment and leisure activities.

David Blake, Worcester City Council managing director, said: “The regeneration of the Shrub Hill Quarter in the coming years will create a greater need than ever for there to be quick and easy ways of getting between that area and the city centre.

“In line with the City Council’s Environmental Sustainability Strategy, we need links that are not all about motorised transport, and this planning application for a new shared route for walkers, cyclists and other forms of active travel is aimed at delivering that.”

The land on the western side of the canal, around Pheasant Street and Padmore Street, is currently in the hands of several different owners, including First Bus which operates a depot there. The city council said it has begun negotiations with these owners, in order to acquire the land needed to create the new route.

If approved, the creation of the new route would be one of several projects funded from the £19.6m that the City Council has been awarded from the Government’s Towns Fund scheme.

A public consultation on the planning application is now open.