Transport Innovation Fund study

Latest information about the study

On 14 December 2007, the County Council considered a report recommending the council not to submit a business case for road pricing under the Transport Innovation Fund (TIF).

This report was approved, which means that proposals for road pricing in Shrewsbury will not go ahead.

Council also approved minor modifications to the route of a possible Shrewsbury North-West Relief Road (NWRR).

The recommendations were based on the final report of the TIF study, undertaken with support from the governments Department for Transport.

The report shows that a package of transport measures including road pricing, a new NWRR and big improvements to public transport could produce significant benefits for Shrewsbury by reducing the amount of traffic entering the town centre.

However, any road pricing scheme would have to generate enough income to cover both its own costs and the costs of new public transport services. The study confirms that even with a toll on the new NWRR as well as the town centre, a scheme would be difficult to balance in cash-flow terms.

For this reason, the council have decided not to take the TIF package any further.

Alternative ways of funding a NWRR are still being considered, and a feasibility study has been started to see if it could incorporate an innovative flood risk management scheme.

Follow the link 'council agenda' on this page to view the final TIF report considered at council.

Previous study report

On Friday 20 July 2007, the County Council considered a progress report on the Shrewsbury NWRR and TIF studies.

There is also a possibility, being discussed with the Environment Agency, of combining a NWRR with a flood defence scheme to protect Shrewsbury and places are far away as Worcester.

The council agreed that the progress report should be submitted to the Department for Transport.

Although the council made it clear they are not currently in support of a toll on a NWRR, nor the imposition of road pricing generally, they recognised that Shrewsbury does face problems in the future which need to be addressed.

The council made a commitment to complete the study, and listen to the views of the people of Shropshire. Council also agreed to look at alternative ways to reduce congestion and encourage use of more sustainable forms of transport before any firm decision is made.

Nine other local authority areas, including Cambridge, Durham, Norwich, Greater Manchester and the West Midlands are involved in similar studies, all aimed at attracting a share of the government’s £9 billion TIF.

So far, only two, Cambridge and Greater Manchester, have decided in principle to implement road pricing schemes.

TIF study background

The government is making special funding available to local authorities over the next eight years to put in schemes to manage travel demand, combat congestion and improve pubic transport. Shropshire is one of only ten places in the country to have been given extra funding by the government to look at innovative schemes to achieve these aims.

Through the Department for Transport's TIF, Shropshire was given over £850,000 to carry out this study. The funding has been used to investigate all the possible options for tackling traffic problems in Shrewsbury.

An in-depth study has been undertaken on an integrated package of measures which including:

• substantial improvements to the public transport system
• more pedestrian priority in the town centre
• measures to tackle congestion hotspots
• major highway investment such as a north west relief road
• some form of road charging to reduce traffic in the historic centre