PROPOSALS to build a new rail bridge over the River Severn connecting Stroud and the Forest of Dean are being considered, according to a council document.

A plan to connect to metro systems in Bristol and South Wales through Gloucestershire is being explored – as well as a way for people to walk and cycle across the River Severn.

Gloucestershire County Council is looking into the feasibility of a rail crossing in a brief for its rail investment strategy, a Stroud District Council report said.

The report adds that a new rail bridge “might also present an opportunity to provide better pedestrian and cycling links between existing/new communities” on either side of the Severn.

Stroud District Council Leader Doina Cornell said the there are “huge challenges to face”, such as public transport and dealing with a climate emergency, but a new rail bridge is “a long way down the line”.

The exploration of a new severn connection is tasked by a new board set up to look at improving infrastructure and connectivity between the two districts, called the Severn Vale Board, as part of the Gloucestershire Vision 2050 project.

According to the board’s terms of reference, it will examine the potential for a new crossing to link to metro systems around Bristol and South Wales.

Included in those initial proposals was the suggestion of a new road bridge, however that has now been shelved as it could be “physically unachievable”.

THE BRIDGE PROPOSAL:

The council document said a new rail bridge’s potential to “harness” natural energy, such as tidal, wind and solar, “could be explored” as Forest of Dean and Stroud district councils are working towards carbon neutrality by up to 2050.

The report also says an “innovative bridge design” could add to the River Severn due to being a “rich ecological resource” and tourist destination in itself.

Connecting both sides of the Severn forms part of a wider strategic plan to create a super region linking Cardiff, Bristol, Gloucestershire and Swindon – known as ‘Powerhouse for the West’.

The areas would combine to promote the wider region and push for improvements and investment in a bid to create an economic area to rival the North, Midlands and the South East.

A ‘Powerhouse of the West’ report, published in July 2019, directly mentions the possibility of a third Severn estuary crossing at Lydney-Sharpness to improve rail resilience.

The council report added: “Electrification of the railway lines that link London and the different parts of the Great Western Powerhouse through to South Wales is important to regional economic growth and carbon reduction.”

According to the council report, a road bridge is “not currently under consideration”.

A jointly commissioned report between the county council and Stroud and Forest of Dean district councils found the need for a road bridge to solve an existing problem was “at best unclear”.

It said: “While the bridge was advocated on the basis of creating opportunities through infrastructure investment, this is clearly not how funding flows.

“The likely cost of the bridge would necessitate levels of development which while untested would be likely to be at a level that would be unpalatable to councils and communities on both sides of the river if not physically unachievable.”

The report, written by Stroud District Council’s chief executive Kathy O’Leary, said the areas within the Severn Vale, and Gloucestershire generally, should “improve local public transport to facilitate improved prosperity and reduced isolation for local people”.

Mrs Cornell (L, Dursley) said: “We face huge challenges in our district and across the region such as improving public transport and dealing with climate emergency. There’s a real willingness to work together across local authority borders and with our neighbours in Wales too.

“The Severn Vale Board, if approved by all those councils, has real potential to bring this all together.

“One project that will be considered is a possible new Severn crossing for rail, cycle and pedestrians which has the potential to reduce carbon emissions, improve rail resilience, and boost regional economic growth.

“But it’s a long way down the line – a lot of research would need to be done first on whether there is a sound business case for it and any potential impacts on the river environment.”

It is not clear where connecting rail points would go across the River Severn, and how much a rail bridge would cost and where the money would come from.

There are disused railway tracks on the edge of Lydney and Sharpness after the Severn Bridge disaster in October 1960, which saw the bridge partially collapse when two tanker barges smashed into its pillars after colliding in heavy fog.

THE SEVERN VALE BOARD:

Tonight, Stroud District Council’s strategy and resources committee will be asked to recommend to full council that the authority participates in the work of the Severn Vale Board and endorses terms of reference of the board.

The board extends from the southern fringe of Gloucester, incorporating the administrative areas of Stroud and Forest of Dean. The area is “key to connecting Gloucestershire with Bristol and Cardiff and other centres along the M4 and M5 motorways and rail network”, the board’s terms of reference said.

It will develop a work programme to be completed by April 2020 to deliver the aims of the board, including the potential for a new Severn crossing.

Gloucestershire County Council, which covers the transport strategy for the county, has been contacted for comment.