Traffic congestion in and around Worcester might be eased by making a stretch of the city’s southern ring road a dual-carriageway

That’s the hope of Worcestershire County Council’s highways department, and members of Worcester City Council’s planning committee will give their view of the plan.

The county’s highways team actually has to apply to the county council’s own planning committee for permission to go ahead, but the city council gets to give its opinion.

The plan is to make the single-lane stretch of the A4440 south of the city between Powick Roundabout and Ketch Roundabout - a distance of nearly 2 kilometres - into a dual-carriageway.

There will also be two new bridges, at Carrington Bridge and Powick Common aqueduct and the footpath on the northern side will be widened to two metres to allow it to be both a foot and cycleway with a bridge linking to the cycle paths running north-south at Powick roundabout.

A draft report of the committee says: “The City Council “fully supports the principle” of the plan, and adds: “There can be no doubt that these highway infrastructure improvements, in association with proposed A449 corridor improvements, will improve journey times (by a range of transport modes) between Worcester and beyond, as well as to the M5 motorway.”

The council’s archaeology officers said: “The scheme has potential to enhance access to heritage, in particular relating to the Battle of Worcester, including improved design of the Ketch viewpoint, with updated and enhanced interpretation.

St Peter the Great Parish Council, which represents residents living by the Ketch roundabout is also in favour of the plan.

Its response said: “The millions spent on the upgrade to date (between the Ketch and Whittington roundabouts) would be wasted if the frustrating and pollution-causing pinch point at the Ketch roundabout weren’t removed.”

It would also like to see a band-stand-style covering at the Ketch viewpoint, with the platform possibly raised, and improved information boards.