New river bridge and dozens of cycle lanes among proposals for Bridgnorth

It comes as Shropshire Council bids for a share of a £2billion fund from the Government.

Earlier this week, the cabinet at the authority approved a consultation into plans for new walking and cycling routes to transform Shropshire's biggest towns.

Shrewsbury, Oswestry, Bridgnorth, Market Drayton, Church Stretton, Ludlow and Whitchurch are all in line for schemes that are aimed at getting more people in the county active.

The Government has a £2 billion fund for such schemes and last year Shropshire Council was given £116,094 of funding to be allocated towards a consultation into Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIP).

Following the consultation, if the public approve the schemes, Shropshire Council can bid for some of the government's £2 billion fund to bring the proposals into fruition.

For Bridgnorth, more than 60 proposed cycle routes have been put forward, along with improvements to pathways to encourage more walking in the town.

The LCWIP report presented to Shropshire Council's cabinet on March 8, said Bridgnorth has currently no existing cycle infrastructure.

The report said: "This shows the importance of delivering high quality walking and cycling infrastructure across the town to provide both local and long-distance connectivity."

It proposes around 60 cycle routes, including seven segregated cycle lanes for the town.

These would include a route along Wenlock Road between the A458 and Church Lane, a link into the town centre from the west, and a route along Kidderminster Road/Hospital Street to connect to residential areas and Low Town.

A cycle lane along Wenlock Road between Church Lane and Westland Drive, was also proposed and another from the north west to the town centre past the hospital, college and into the high street.

Other schemes proposed for the town include a new bridge across the River Severn, or if that cannot be delivered, a 20mph speed limit and a contraflow system over the existing bridge .

A contraflow system has also been proposed for the High Street, or an alternative could be "timed closures to traffic other than buses", said the report.

It also proposes restricting traffic to allow a cycle route along St Marys Street providing access onto the High Street.

The report also suggests making a number of changes to improve walking around Bridgnorth, but "the majority of the cycle schemes proposed include provision for pedestrians and so also act as walking recommendations."

The cabinet approved the ideas in the report and a six-week public consultation will be held in the spring.