A LEOMINSTER town councillor says the results of a traffic survey give Herefordshire Council “no option” but to open negotiations on plans for a bypass.

Commissioned by Leominster Town Council last September, the report considers what impact the construction of a bypass, joining the A49 to the south and the A44 to the west, would have.

Councillor Richard Westwood said its findings highlighted the poor air quality around Bargates and predicted a 40% traffic increase in Leominster by 2018.

By measuring traffic flow in different areas around the town and, after working out how much the flow would increase over the next 10 years, the report found that at least 2,500 vehicles would use an east-west bypass every weekday.

It also found that 20% of the traffic from Bargates, around 2,000 vehicles in a 12-hour day, would be redirected with the construction of a bypass, a change which would also help improve air quality in the area.

In 2001, the junction of Dishley Street and New Street was found to have the highest nitrogen dioxide levels in Herefordshire and was classified as an air quality management area.

The report, by consulting engineers Morgan Tucker, says Herefordshire Council is considering small changes to signal settings at the junction as part of an action plan to reduce nitrogen dioxide to the level required by the government.

It concludes: “The construction of the southern bypass route would definitely confer a significant degree of traffic relief to Bargates and the rest of the town centre network.

“The removal of this traffic would not only deliver major benefits in terms of road safety and local amenity but would offer an effective long-term solution to Herefordshire’s most critical air quality issue, namely the unacceptably high levels of nitrogen dioxide which currently exist on Bargates.” Copies of the report have since been sent to members of Herefordshire Council, Leominster MP Bill Wiggin and the Highways Agency among others, along with a letter lobbying for support.

“This independent report highlights the unacceptably high levels of nitrogen dioxide around the Bargates junction,” said Coun Westwood.

“Of even more significance is the conclusion that this junction is already failing to clear standing traffic at peak times, a situation predicted to get worse in years to come.

“As the report states, a bypass is the only effective solution. The findings leave Herefordshire Council with no other option.” Herefordshire Council leader Councillor Roger Phillips said a bypass for Leominster was “still in mind” as a transport project.