Skip to main content

The vision

We’ve waited fifty years for this – please just get on and build it Hereford resident

The long-awaited Hereford Bypass is far more than just a road. It is a transformative infrastructure that, if fully delivered, can unblock, unlock and unleash Herefordshire’s Future.

This strategic narrative sets out that vision - beginning with the challenges Herefordshire faces today and the consequences of continued inaction. It explains why the bypass is essential to unlocking new homes, new jobs and new investment, and how each phase can deliver meaningful benefits for residents and businesses.

Together, these sections show how the Bypass can [1]:

Unblock congestion

  • Remove up to 50% of peak-time through-traffic from the A49 city centre.
  • Improve journey times, reliability and productivity.
  • Build a second River Wye crossing – essential resilience against flooding and incidents.
  • Enable more travel choices, cleaner air, quieter streets and safer roads.

Unlock growth

  • Make land available to build up to 14,000 homes (including affordable options) and the requisite infrastructure, such as schools, GP surgeries and shops.
  • Open up 150 hectares – the equivalent of nearly 200 football pitches – of employment land to the west of the city to help create 10,000 new jobs.
  • Better connect key industrial sites and enterprise zones with the strategic road network.

Unleash potential

  • Create urban active travel corridors to complement the new bypass.
  • Enable regeneration of Hereford city.
  • Deliver biodiversity net gain above statutory requirements, creating new habitats and green infrastructure.
  • Send a clear signal to investors that Herefordshire is open for business.
  • Strengthening regional as well as England–Wales connectivity bringing closer ties and economic benefits.

With the full ambition of the bypass met – with new houses, jobs and employment land delivered - this would likely generate hundreds of millions of pounds in Gross Value Added (GVA) for Herefordshire.

[1] These are modelled forecasts and will be refined through design, consultation and statutory processes.
Figures reflect current strategic transport modelling (WebTAG-based) and will be updated at Outline/Full Business Case stages.