Road set for more use 'in a dangerous condition'

Paul Bennett said the road was too dangerous for buses, lorries and other large vehicles

A road set for increased use, during the closure of another, is in a "dangerous" condition, a councillor has said.

Jubilee Drive near the Worcestershire/Herefordshire border is likely to have more traffic, because the A449 will be shut between the A4104 turn-off and the entrance to British Camp Car Park.

A county and district councillor for Malvern, Paul Bennett, said the road was too dangerous for buses, lorries and other large vehicles and that they would damage the surface further.

Jubilee Drive is the responsibility of Herefordshire Council, which has announced an agreed diversion route on different roads.

The A449 is scheduled to remain closed until 24 April next year.

Worcestershire County Council is carrying out the roadworks there, but Jubilee Drive is just over the border.

Bennett is calling for the road to be used by light vehicles only.

He said: "There are barriers missing in several places where cars have gone through in the past – and it's a sheer drop on the other side.

"Other barriers have been left so they're sticking out – if you crash into one of those head-on you could be impaled."

In terms of longer term, Bennett stated: "They could move the road by a metre [on the side furthest from the barriers] and put an earth bund on the other side."

This, he said, would act as "a safety measure to stop cars that have come off the road but would also be more attractive and environmentally-friendly than the barriers".

Use of Jubilee Drive is likely to increase in the coming months

A Herefordshire Council spokesperson said it had been liaising "with our neighbours in Worcestershire regarding their closure of the A449".

They added: "We can confirm that the diversion route that we have agreed with Worcestershire will use the A4104 to Welland, before picking up the B4208 to join the A438 near Rye Cross Farm.

"Traffic will then use Herefordshire's road network at Hollybush, through Eastnor to rejoin the A449 east of Ledbury. The reverse will apply in the opposite direction."

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.