A PEDESTRIAN and cycle bridge could be built over one of Worcester's busiest roads.

St Modwen has applied for permission to site the crossing over the A4440 Broomhall Way, close to the Norton Road roundabout on the city's southern link road.

The developers say the bridge will form an important part of its bid to built a 255-home development on nearby land off Taylors Lane, plans for which were submitted to Worcester City Council last month.

It also wants to build an "area for employment" on the earmarked 18 acre site which is part of a wider area of land allocated in the emerging South Worcestershire Development Plan (SWDP).

St Modwen says the image featured in your Worcester News is indicative and "not representative of the final design".

According to planning documents submitted to the city council, agents Planning Prospects Ltd say: "The final precise detail of the bridge is reserved for subsequent approval."

John Dodds, the Midlands' regional director at St Modwen, says the whole scheme will benefit the area.

"We aim to deliver a sustainable new environment that will be sensitive to the local area, whilst also helping to create employment opportunities," he said.

"As part of the proposals, we plan to provide separate access for the employment and residential elements of the scheme, with a landscaped area between the two.”

The homes, should permission be granted, are set to be a mix of semi-detached and detached homes with two, three, four and five-bedroom units.

The development would also include affordable housing and a new employment business area totalling about five hectares.

A decision on whether both the bridge and housing development can go ahead should be made by the middle of May.

Earlier this year your Worcester News reported on Welbeck Land’s 15-year idea for an estate on 150 acres of land straddling nearby Bath Road, Crookbarrow Way and Norton Road.

A Welbeck Land spokesperson has told this paper the St Modwen application “sits alongside and complements our planning application”.