Major plans for two new roads in Shropshire have officially been combined into one scheme.

Shropshire Council’s cabinet agreed behind closed doors this week to merge the North West Relief Road and Oxon Link Road into one project in Shrewsbury.

Since the announcement of government funding for the NWRR – and with the two schemes being intrinsically linked – council officers have explored the option of combining the two projects. 

It says there are “significant” benefits to combining the two projects.

A spokesman said: “The funding award for the NWRR undermined the case for a standalone application for the OLR, and the planning application for the OLR was withdrawn in August 2019.

“To date, the OLR and the NWRR projects have been developed as individual projects based on separate Outline Business Cases (OBC) and funding streams.

“The OLR – part-funded by the Marches LEP through the Growth Deal fund – seeks to provide a local distributor road to facilitate the Shrewsbury West Sustainable Urban Extension.

“The NWRR – part-funded by the Department for Transport through the Large Local Majors fund – seeks to provide a new strategic link between the west and north of Shrewsbury to improve journey times and relieve the town centre from through traffic.

“The two schemes are intrinsically linked in providing the completion of the outer Shrewsbury Ring Road.”

The council said the benefits include getting better value for money. 

It said: “The changed nature of the OLR will improve the transport user benefits – increasing the benefit for private, commuter and business users.”

It added: “Improved pedestrian and cycle safety. The strategic nature of the combined scheme justifies the inclusion of pedestrian and cycle overbridges at the OLR section.

“Improved investment perception. Creation of a single flag-ship project promotes Shrewsbury and Shropshire as a place for investment.

“Reduced real-terms costs. Through economies-of-scale and efficient working practices the combined scheme costs would be less than the delivery of two separate projects.”

The council said a planning application should be in by Spring 2020, with a public inquiry in winter 2020.

Construction will start in spring 2022 and the road will open in spring 2023.