Funding bid to replace ageing Zouch road bridge

The council said financial pressures meant a bid for a replacement bridge was its only feasible option

A bid for government funding is to be made to replace an ageing road bridge, Leicestershire County Council has said.

The bridge, on the A6006 near Zouch, is on the route of a major access point to East Midlands Airport and the Ratcliffe-on-Soar power station redevelopment, the council said.

The authority said it planned to apply for £18m from the government's Levelling Up fund.

It said, due to financial pressures, a funding bid was its only option.

'Growth and investment'

Council leader Nick Rushton said: "Building a replacement bridge limits the impact on the road network and it's the type of project which is at the very heart of levelling up.

"It matches our ambition to ensure Leicestershire is a major player in encouraging growth and investment.

"The work on a new bridge ensures a strategic cross-country route remains open to some very key sites, as well as helping to alleviate traffic congestion off the M1 and a number of A-roads."

If successful with the funding bid, the project at Zouch would see the new bridge built to the south of the existing bridge.

Traffic would then be diverted on to the new bridge as demolition work starts on the old bridge.

It is hoped work could start in 2023.

The council is also supporting a Levelling Up transport bid by Blaby District Council to fund improvements around junction 21 of the M1.

A government spokesperson said: "Levelling up is a massively ambitious, generation-defining project to spread opportunity across the country, boost local communities and create well-paid jobs.

"Our £4.8 billion Levelling Up fund invests in infrastructure that improves everyday life across the UK, including regenerating town centres and high streets, upgrading local transport and investing in cultural and heritage assets."