Cyclists slam council’s decision to spend millions on “pointless” figure-of-eight loop “bridge to nowhere”, instead of fixing muddy quagmire around it

A £16m cycling and walking bridge designed to encourage active travel in Worcester has been criticised by local cyclists and campaigners for leading directly into an impassable, muddy path — forcing riders to either brave a dangerous road or turn back the way they came.

The Kepax Bridge, which spans the River Severn, was designed by Worcestershire County Council in the shape of an eight loop to encourage more people to walk and cycle in the city. It opened to public use in December, with the council celebrating the project as a “huge success” that was attracting thousands of users.

However, for people actually trying to use it, it was a different story altogether. Cyclists told the BBC that the Severn Way path in Worcester, on the Western side of the bridge, was impossible to get through — even on foot, let alone with a bike.

The bridge was meant to make it easier to get around the city, especially for people choosing to walk or cycle instead of driving. But it’s not just the mud making life difficult for people — the only other alternative is the A443, which is considered to be dangerous by many local cyclists. Bike Worcester pointed out how bizarre it was to spend millions on a bridge without sorting out the surrounding infrastructure.

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Dan Brothwell, chair of the group, said: "It seems like some of the easier bits around the edges, that are actually really important to make [the bridge] a success, have been overlooked."

Daisy Wallis, who lives just five minutes away, said that it’s been a frustrating experience. She explained that when she cycles with her six-year-old son, they end up turning back because of all the the nearby A443. “It feels like a bridge to nowhere,” she said. “If the council had finished the muddy section, we’d be using it a lot more.”

Kepax Bridge construction (credit: Worcestershire County Council)

Karen Lewing, a Green Party city councillor, called the situation “a bit pointless” and urged the council to collaborate with the Environment Agency and the Severn Rivers Trust to figure something out. She said that during the project’s planning stage, the path upgrade was probably seen as too difficult, but that doesn’t mean it should be ignored entirely.

Despite the criticism, the council has insisted that upgrading the path was never part of the project. A spokesperson for the council said: “The path along the river is prone to flooding, and although it is used by some walkers, it is not a defined public right of way, so it is not maintainable by our Public Rights of Way team.”

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Cycling infrastructure has been hotly contested in the city in recent times. In October, a senior doctor urged Worcester policymakers to see past “so much negativity locally” and implement safe cycling routes that encourage and enable people to leave their cars at home for short local journeys.

The comments came in a bid to “redress the balance” of discourse around cycling in the city that has predominantly centred around controversial cycling bans, courtesy of the only remaining Conservative on Worcester City Council being outspoken about “dangerous and selfish” cyclists, and his desire to see a TRO (Traffic Regulation Order) banning bike riders from the city’s high street between 10am and 6pm kept in place.

In March, Worcester City Council opted not to extend a PSPO (Public Spaces Protection Order), which banned cycling in other parts of the town and that campaigners branded a “psychological barrier” to people using bicycles. At the time, councillors said they were “never convinced dangerous cyclists were the big issue” and the ban felt like “political theatre”.

The high street TRO was also proposed for a review, prompting more comments from Cllr Amos about the decision only being made to “appease the cycling lobby”, that it had left disabled residents “horrified”, and that it would transform a “safe and welcoming area where pedestrians can shop and walk” into a “dangerous and unwelcoming place”.