Councillor stands firm on A46 bridge budget-reveal

Revealing the increased cost of a project to build the so-called "bridge to nowhere" over the A46 in Warwickshire was the right thing to do, the councillor in charge has said.

Stephen Shaw, Reform UK portfolio holder for transport and planning at Warwickshire County Council, told BBC CWR's Lorna Bailey the Stoneleigh Junction near Kenilworth would cost "below £80m".

The revelation comes after construction for the project - originally due to cost £38m - restarted following a three-year suspension.

Shaw said: "When this project is finished, we do want to make sure everything is clear to the public, where the money has gone, why it's gone wrong and we fully know, that it can't happen again."

The scheme, planned and managed by the county council with involvement from Coventry City Council, Warwick District Council, Highways England and HS2 Ltd, was approved in 2018 and work started the following year.

The original budget was £38m, but that increased to £54m, with the county council putting the extra money into the scheme.

However, work stopped in 2023 because of problems getting enough soil to use as supporting backfill for the concrete wings on either side of the bridge.

Shaw said it was not clear if the backfill had not been ordered in sufficient quantities, had been bought and then re-sold to HS2 Ltd, or had even been bought in the first place.

That meant, he said, the walls at either end of the bridge needed to be re-designed and work re-started earlier this year, and that extra work has seen costs increase again.

Shaw told the Local Democracy Reporting Service "we have been handed a bad deal and we have done everything possible to sort it out".

He also denied it had been a mistake to reveal the overall £80m cost of the project.

"The people of Warwickshire want transparency, we will give them that transparency," he said.

"We are not here to hide things from the public. We are here to make sure people know where their money is going and get the best deal for them at the same time."

Shaw maintains that now work has re-started, it is on schedule to be completed in 2027.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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