Width
Varies between 4 and 7 metres. Bishopstone Group Parish Council recorded that it is “not wide enough in many places for 2 HGVs to pass”.
Evidence
Every figure here comes from the council’s own documents.
None of this is our measurement. It is the bypass’s own survey programme, the council’s commissioned reviews, and its officers’ recorded decisions. And note the dates: these are the newest figures the council has published, and the newest of them is nearly a decade old.
Traffic across the crossing
The bypass’s own survey programme placed ATC Site 1 — the first site — on the C1098 river crossing itself. The drawing labels the road only as “Un-named Road”.
| Measure | Direction 1 | Direction 2 |
|---|---|---|
| 24-hour flow | 1,138 | 1,152 |
| AM period, 07:00–10:00 | 208 | 443 |
| PM period, 16:00–19:00 | 384 | 241 |
| Two-way daily total | ~2,290 vehicles, approximately 1% HGV | |
The hourly profile is strongly tidal — a pronounced peak in one direction around 08:00, mirrored by the other around 17:00. That is the signature of commuter through-traffic using the crossing, not local movement.
This matters twice over. It is the official pre-scheme baseline any monitoring trigger can be anchored to. And it means the western crossing was inside the scheme’s own evidence base from 2016 — while being absent from the assessment that decided the scheme’s effects.
These counts are from November 2016. Ten years on, they are a floor, not a picture of today: traffic on Herefordshire’s roads has grown since, and the probability is that flows over the bridge are now higher. The council re-surveyed traffic in 2025 to build the updated model behind its Full Business Case — so current figures for these roads exist. The council holds that data and has not published it. Disclosure of the 2025 study is one of our five asks.
Through HGVs: a repeatable baseline
In 2017 the council ran automatic number plate recognition surveys at both ends of the road, measuring vehicles that passed straight through with no intermediate stop — pure cut-through traffic.
| Survey date | Through movements, two-way | Of which over 7.5 t |
|---|---|---|
| 9 November 2017 | 64 | ~21 |
| 6 December 2017 | 39 | ~19 |
Because the method is defined and repeatable, these counts are a ready-made trigger metric. Re-run the same survey after opening, and the comparison is against the council’s own numbers, by the council’s own method.
What the road actually is
From the council-commissioned review of January 2018, covering the 4.3 km national-speed-limit section between Bridge Sollers and Madley:
Alignment
Characterised by a number of noticeably sharp bends which, with the narrow carriageway, act as traffic calming.
Provision
No footways except on the bridge section. No street lighting. Passing places “few and far between” — one formal, about 20 metres.
What it serves
Direct access to 21 dwellings, 25 fields, nine farming businesses, six private lanes and a church. Three bridleways and seven footpaths.
Signing
Signed “Unsuitable for HGVs” — in 2018 at the southern B4352 end only, with no such sign at the A438 end, the direction crossing traffic arrives from.
Speeds
85th-percentile speeds of 33.5–37.7 mph at two locations. The review concluded speeds are self-limited by geometry.
The collision record
Six personal-injury collisions were recorded in the five years from June 2012 to May 2017. Three were on the C1098 itself — loss of control at a bend into an oncoming vehicle, rear shunts, and a collision with an agricultural vehicle in which road layout was a stated contributory factor. Two more were at the A438 junction, caused by vehicles waiting to turn to or from the C1098.
Bishopstone Group Parish Council additionally reported a serious collision at the Bridge Sollers crossroads in January 2018, requiring two air ambulances. That post-dates the validated dataset above.
A fourteen-year record of concern
This is not a new objection. Madley Parish Council asked for a speed limit between Bridge Sollers and Madley in 2012. The C1098 entered the council’s prioritised traffic regulation order waiting list. The ward member for Stoney Street recorded that residents of Madley and Bridge Sollers
almost to a person want a speed limit and a weight limit on the road Ward member consultation response, 2018
— and that the apparent inability of the police to enforce limits was one of the main reasons for refusal. Madley Parish Council’s own response warned that
serious consideration should be given by the county planners to new planning applications which would increase the amount of commercial traffic along the Bridge Sollars Road Madley Parish Council, 2018
That is a formal warning, given in 2018, against exactly the kind of decision now being taken.
Scheme timeline
| Date | Event |
|---|---|
| 18 July 2016 | Planning permission P151314/F granted, with 21 conditions |
| November 2016 | ATC Site 1 survey on the C1098 crossing |
| Nov–Dec 2017 | ANPR through-movement surveys at both ends of the C1098 |
| Jan–May 2018 | Speed and weight restriction reviews; both refused |
| 14 March 2019 | 2018 Side Roads Order confirmed by the Secretary of State |
| July 2019 | Nominal commencement of works keeps the permission alive |
| February 2024 | AECOM review finds the 2016 evidence base substantially out of date |
| December 2025 | Cabinet resolves to make a Compulsory Purchase Order |
| August 2026 | Full Business Case published, acknowledging induced traffic on the C1098 |
| 10 September 2026 | Cabinet considers the Phase One Assessment Report |
| December 2026 | Construction programmed to start |
| around 2028 | Programmed opening |
Sources
Every claim on this site is drawn from the following documents. All are council or consultant documents obtained from the planning record, from published Cabinet papers, or by freedom of information and environmental information request.
- Transport Assessment — South Wye Transport Package, Southern Link Road, Parsons Brinckerhoff, May 2015 — on the planning register under application P151314/F, with the full application file
- Transport Assessment Appendix B — scoping note, November 2014; Highways Agency letter, 1 December 2014; JMP Technical Note, March 2015 — same planning file
- Briefing Note — transport impacts and benefits arising from the Southern Link Road, Parsons Brinckerhoff, 30 September 2015
- Environmental Statement — Appendix 5.1 (traffic data for air quality) and Appendix 11.3 — same planning file
- AECOM review — Hereford Southern Link Road planning application and design review, February 2024
- Report of Highway Surveys — Hereford Transport Model, WSP / Parsons Brinckerhoff, September 2017 — released under FOI
- Speed limit review — ADL Briefing Note ref 3409, January 2018; AD Report, February 2018; Record of Officer Decision, 9 March 2018 — released under FOI
- Weight restriction review — ADL Briefing Note ref 3409, January 2018; AD Report, April 2018; Record of Officer Decision, 2 May 2018 — released under FOI
- Statement of Reasons — draft, Hereford Bypass Phase 1 CPO, with the Cabinet decision of 18 December 2025 and its papers
- Full Business Case — Herefordshire Council, August 2026 — published document (PDF); council announcement
Documents released under freedom of information or environmental information request have no public web link — printed copies will be available at the meeting on 31 August. If you believe any figure here is wrong, please tell us. Our interest is in the accuracy of the evidence base — which is exactly what we are asking of the council.