Bridge Sollers Road (C1098) · Madley · Bridge Sollers · Lulham
The Southern Link Road and the unresolved problem
Herefordshire Council is about to build the first phase of the Hereford bypass. Its own business case admits the new road will push yet more traffic onto the already over-used Bridge Sollers Road and through Madley — and no measures are in place to deal with it. The evidence on this site comes from the council’s own files.
01Two bridges. One shortcut.
The Southern Link Road is fully funded and construction starts in December. The western bypass that would complete the route — with its new river crossing — has no start date and needs central government money that hasn’t been won.
West of Hereford there are exactly two ways over the River Wye: Greyfriars Bridge in the congested centre of the city (opened 1966), and Bridge Sollers Bridge — our C1098. The moment the new road opens, every sat-nav in the country will show a shorter route from the A438 to the A49 for Ross and the A465 for Abergavenny: over our bridge, down the Bage Pitch, through Madley. Cars, vans and HGVs will follow the arrow.
02Why that’s a problem
The Bridge Sollers Road cannot take it
Between 4 and 7 metres wide, blind bends, no footway, no lighting — and already signed “Unsuitable for HGVs”. The council’s own consultants wrote that it is “not wide enough in many places for 2 HGVs to pass”. Farm traffic must use it; through-traffic doesn’t have to.
The shortcut runs straight past the school
Madley Primary School, the Parish Hall and other local businesses with a duty to keep children safe all sit on the B4352 through Madley — a road already crowded twice a day with parents and children on foot. More through-traffic in both directions means more danger at the school gate, and more traffic past every home along the Bage Pitch.
03The road, in the council’s own figures
- 2,290 vehicles a day across the Wye at Bridge Sollers ATC Site 1, November 2016 — the bypass’s own survey
- 4–7 m carriageway width over the 4.3 km national-speed-limit section Council-commissioned review, January 2018
- ~21 through HGVs over 7.5 t in a single 12-hour survey ANPR surveys, November–December 2017
- 6 personal-injury collisions in five years on and at the road June 2012 – May 2017
Until 21 September 2026, every one of these numbers was old. The counts are from 2016 and 2017, and the newest published figure dated from 2018. On 21 September, under environmental information request EIR2026/01918, the council released the 2023 base flows and forecasts for these roads from the traffic model behind its business case. They show 206 vehicles an hour over the bridge in the 2023 evening peak, rising to 340 with the new road in 2028 — a 19% scheme effect in the peak hour and 48% between the peaks — and traffic on the B4352 at the Clehonger end of Madley nearly doubled. Evidence Note 3 sets out the figures →
04The council already knows. Its own files say so.
This is not speculation and it is not new. Every item below is a Herefordshire Council document, obtained from its own records and releases:
Residents first ask for protection
Madley Parish Council formally requests speed limits on the road. The council’s later consultation records residents of Madley and Bridge Sollers “almost to a person” wanting both a speed limit and a weight limit.
Source: ADL review ref 3409 & consultation responses, released under FOIThe bypass’s own surveyors count our bridge — first
Building the traffic model for the bypass, the council’s consultants make Bridge Sollers ATC Site 1 — the very first counter of the programme — recording ~2,290 vehicles a day with a textbook commuter tide over the bridge.
Source: Hereford Transport Model — Report of Highway Surveys, WSP, 2017A weight limit is refused — for one reason only
The council accepts the road is unsuitable for HGVs but refuses a 7.5-tonne limit solely because no alternative route existed — the only other lane crosses the Wye at Bredwardine on a 3.7 m single-track bridge. The bypass they are now building is the alternative.
Source: Officer decision, 2 May 2018, released under FOIThe council’s own model puts numbers on it — and still commits nothing
The Full Business Case acknowledges traffic will increase on roads near the new route as drivers re-route. The model figures behind it, released on 21 September 2026 under EIR2026/01918, forecast 19% more traffic on the Bridge Sollers Road in the 2028 evening peak and 48% more between the peaks, HGVs up by a third, and traffic on the B4352 at the Clehonger end of Madley nearly doubled — lasting to 2061. There is still no monitoring plan and no mitigation.
Source: Full Business Case & draft CPO Statement of Reasons, para 5.26; model outputs released under EIR2026/01918 — Evidence Note 305What we’re asking for
Not a fight against the bypass. A commitment, in writing, before the diggers start in December:
Act now. Monitor openly. Escalate automatically.
Act now: the rat run is already running — some 2,290 vehicles a day on a lane the council has called unsuitable since 2012. The through-traffic restriction and 7.5-tonne weight limit it accepted in principle in 2018 belong in place today, and before the new road opens at the very latest — using the same legal tools the scheme already uses on Belmont Road. This first step waits on no forecast.
Monitor openly: independent traffic counts on the Bridge Sollers Road before, during and after construction, published as they come — with the council’s forecast for our road, and the 2025 survey data it already holds, on the table beside them.
Escalate automatically: agreed thresholds for traffic, HGVs and speed which, if crossed despite the first measures, bring in a pre-agreed package of additional measures — physical calming at the crossing approaches, a lower speed limit, stronger enforcement — with no fresh fight and no new gatekeeping.
We are not against the road. A restriction on our lane pushes traffic onto the new bypass — exactly where the council wants it. Every part of the ask uses powers the council already uses on this scheme, and the second tier costs nothing today beyond a signature. It is designed to be easy to say yes to.
The Cabinet decision on 24 September
New to this? The narrow Bridge Sollers Road is already over-used as a shortcut. Phase One of the Hereford Bypass starts construction in December, and when it opens, sat-navs will send even more — cars, vans and HGVs — over it and through Madley, straight past the primary school. The council’s own business case admits the traffic will come, and commits nothing to deal with it. The evidence, all from the council’s own files, is set out on this page and in detail under The case and Evidence.
- The council’s Cabinet decides the scheme’s business case on 24 September, put back from 10 September — the ask needs to be on the record before then
- Sign the council petition for Phase 1 impact mitigations, and ask your neighbours to sign it too
- Record the baseline now — traffic counts, incident logs and parish motions, before construction traffic arrives in December
Everyone on or near the Bridge Sollers Road, in Madley, Bridge Sollers and Lulham — and every parent at the school. Please care.