£110m relief road contract up for grabs

A council contract worth over £100million is now up for grabs after Shropshire Council put bids for Shrewsbury’s North West Relief Road out to tender.

The authority is currently preparing a full business case for the controversial new single carriageway road, linking north Shrewsbury with its western fringe, after planning permission was granted in October 2023.

The tender document, advertised on a government bidding portal, puts the construction cost of the project at £110m, excluding VAT.

Shropshire Council has previously valued the cost of the project at £80.1m, but says the majority of funding for the scheme, including inflationary costs, will come from the Department of Transport.

The main contractor will be expected to complete all works on the scheme, including construction of a new viaduct spanning the River Severn at the Shelton end of the road.

Construction for the project is expected to begin in January 2025, with the contract for the building works running until September, 2027.

“Shropshire Council wishes to appoint a main contractor to construct the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road (“NWRR Project”),” the tender document says.

“This will provide a new, single carriageway road linking the northern and western parts of Shrewsbury. It will include a new bridge over the River Severn and its flood plain, a new bridge over the Shrewsbury-Chester railway line and will connect the A5 at Welshpool Road roundabout in the west to the Ellesmere Road roundabout in the north.”

A total of 62 planning conditions were agreed by Shropshire Council’s planning committee in February, which represented the final stage of planning sign off for the scheme. This was despite an objection from the Environment Agency, who have outstanding concerns about the effect of construction works to Shrewsbury’s water supply, which Shropshire Council says will be mitigated with its planning conditions.

Financing for a scheme of enabling works worth around £17m, including diverting services and infrastructure away from the site of the road ready for construction to commence, was approved by full council at the end of February.

The authority expects to whittle down interested bidders to an expected four final candidates before appointing a main contractor for the scheme after the bidding process ends on April 15.

Shropshire Council says it expects to submit its full business case to the Department of Transport by December.