£1m to make street more cycle friendly

WORK to make a central Hereford street more cycle friendly will cost more than a million pounds, it has been revealed.

The St Owen Street cycle contraflow “has a budget of £1,077,657.92”, according to a council document.

This figure is more than 50 per cent higher than the £700,000 originally agreed for the scheme in October last year.

The work forms part of a wider £6 million package of improvements around the city centre.

The council admitted it “has struggled to deliver all elements of the project in line with the initial programme”.

It has since redesigned the scheme to comply with the Department for Transport’s guidance on cycle infrastructure design, which has meant installing extra safety features and new traffic lights at the junction with Bath Street. Not to have done so could have limited future opportunities to bid for further funding, it added.