Shropshire Council publishes Shrewsbury North West Relief Road draft Full Business Case
Shropshire Council has published its draft assessment of the case for building the North West Relief Road.
Known as a Full Business Case or FBC, these final assessments are required of all schemes considered for approval by the UK Government. FBCs provide updated modelling and analysis that underpin the assessment of value for money of a scheme and its benefits.
The updated draft FBC for the NWRR confirms the revised estimated cost for delivering the road – an estimated maximum of £215 million (including the cost of the Oxon Link Road) over the total 10-year lifetime of the project.
The revised draft FBC confirms the case for building the NWRR, despite the rise in costs of delivery due to inflation.
Shropshire Council says the benefits are driven by the fundamental role of the project in driving a number of strategic aims for Shrewsbury and surrounding areas, these being:
- Shorter journey times
- Reduced congestion in Shrewsbury and surrounding villages
- Reduced congestion on the town’s bypass and smaller rural roads
- Supporting the Shrewsbury Moves Strategy
- Attracting new investment and growing Shropshire’s economy
- Value for money and impact
The revised draft FBC confirms that the NWRR would deliver an Adjusted Benefit to Cost Ratio score or the Adjusted BCR – the mechanism used by the UK Treasury to assess schemes – of 3.88 . This means that for every £1 spent on the scheme, it delivers £3.88 of value back to the local economy when considering the economic benefits.
The BCR score of 3.88 ranks the NWRR among those transport schemes deemed to be high value in the country when considering the benefit versus the cost of delivery.
Journey time savings and reduced congestion
A large number of vehicular journey times along various routes are modelled in the draft FBC using the prescribed national methods. After the NWRR is built, journeys along a some roads would slightly lengthen, although this is on roads that currently do not see heavy traffic, and the increase is marginal. However, the overwhelming outcome would be a significant reduction in journey times across the north of Shrewsbury as a result of having a complete ring road.
When considering the overall impact on journey times across all roads across the entire day, the average single journey time across roads in the northern Shrewsbury area would be reduced by 17 minutes. This means that a typical return journey along the same route in each direction would be an average of 34 minutes less than it is currently. This is a massive saving per day with the potential to substantially improve the quality of life for many people in Shropshire, benefiting those travelling by car, while increasing productivity.
Crucially, Shropshire Coucnil says this level of journey saving has major implications for improving bus services, making bus journeys more reliable across the entire length of a route – benefitting everyone living on that route. The benefits to public transport of the NWRR have been publicly welcomed by Arriva Bus, the primary bus operating company for Shropshire.
Major public service organisations have publicly backed the NWRR due to the benefits they see that the project would deliver for their organisation. The police, NHS, Fire service and Arriva, Shrewsbury’s largest bus service operator, have all referenced the reductions in congestion and journey times as delivering a significant positive impact for staff getting to work and people accessing their services, while people living in communities blighted by heavy standing traffic that is currently forced to run right through the heart of the neighbourhoods would see traffic levels greatly reduced.
Boosting the Shrewsbury Moves Strategy
The reductions in congestion on many neighbourhood roads and roads around the town centre that the NWRR would enable support the Shrewsbury Moves strategy, designed to increase cycling and walking and improve public transport.
By reducing traffic congestion in and around the town centre, a safer and more attractive environment for cycling and walking would be created, with greater opportunity for new cycle routes. In addition, the NWRR would see a new 7km segregated cycle route constructed alongside the road to bridge the gap between existing sections of the town’s cycle route network.
Bus services would see a dramatic reduction in congestion along a number of routes they use to access neighbourhoods in the north of town. This area has among the lowest levels of car ownership in the town with more than a third of households being dependent on public transport. The increased reliability of journey times and timetabling for bus services will improve the lives of many families and make the bus a more attractive option for many other people while improving options for Park and Ride facilities.
Growing the economy
Poor road links and high levels of congestion deter investment in the area by new employers who can choose anywhere to locate. They also increase the risk of existing employers moving elsewhere. While not all roads deliver increased economic activity, schemes that deliver fundamental improvements do. The NWRR would fill the gap in the incomplete Shrewsbury ring road – which is critical infrastructure for the town. The journey time savings would also make the town significantly more attractive to companies looking for a competitive location to base themselves. This is reflected in the NWRR’s high Adjusted BCR score of 3.88.
The town centre of Shrewsbury has faced significant challenges from the growth in online retail over recent years. As a result, changes are being made via the Smithfield Riverside scheme, which will repurpose redundant retail space for offices, new homes and leisure.
Increasing the residential population of, and visitors to, Shrewsbury is a vital element of sustaining retail and hospitality in the town centre. More people living in the town centre will help to provide a direct customer base for retailers and maintain the town centre as a thriving destination for everyone in the area and visitors alike. Reducing traffic, congestion and air pollution is crucial to making the town centre a more attractive place to live. Modelling shows that the NWRR would enable this.
The NWRR, in tandem with the Oxon Link Road, to be delivered at the same time, is also important for increasing the number of new homes in and around Shrewsbury to make an affordable home a reality rather than a dream for local people who want to stay living in the area. Without proper supporting infrastructure, these homes are unlikely to be delivered.
Commenting on the FBC, Lezley Picton, Leader of Shropshire Council says:
“The draft FBC makes the very strong case to the UK Government for support and investment in the NWRR. We have already invested £38 million of Government money to get to this stage. To fail to take the road forward now would see this investment wasted for no benefit. All other alternative options have been assessed. Numerous smaller schemes would cost more money and condemn local people to many more years of high congestion and frustration as they are built over time. All for less benefit than the NWRR provides. We need to grasp this opportunity and deliver the NWRR now.
“The Prime Minister recently commented that ‘…for too long the NIMBYs and naysayers have been able to clog up our system so things can’t get built.’ Stopping this scheme would be to stop progress; to stop the schemes that we need to grow our economy, create prosperity and properly fund our schools, hospitals and social care.
“We agree with the Prime Minister. We’ve seen how hard it is to get on and deliver a vital scheme in the face of organised opposition first-hand, even after a proper process. But we remain determined to succeed. We are ready to go, to get on and deliver.
“The council’s concern is to do what is best for local people. To grow our economy, create opportunity, and improve the lives of local people. When most ordinary people I meet talk to me about the NWRR, they tell me we should get on and deliver it. That’s exactly what I intend to do. I look forward to Council using this FBC to make the positive case we have to Government to secure the scheme’s future and to get spades in the ground as soon as possible.”
The Full Business Case, updated from the November 2024 draft as now published, will need approval from Full Council before the scheme can be submitted to Government. This update will include the most recent information around Carbon impacts and mitigation, as approved by Northern Planning Committee in January 2025, and other minor adjustments to ensure that traffic modelling is as current as possible at the time of submission.
Due to May’s local elections, the FBC is now expected to come to Council later this year.
The draft assessment of the full business case can be read online.
