A KNUTSFORD councillor is again appealing for the door to be opened on a relief road around the town.

Cllr Tony Dean, Conservative, urged Cheshire East Council to consider a new bypass to take lorries away from the A50 in the town centre and improve Knutsford’s air quality last year.

CEC officers revealed at the time that they would carry out a study of the A50 corridor to look at congestion.

But a report presented to councillors on Monday suggested the council is now only set to review the A50 roundabout, at the junction with Northwich Road.

Cllr Dean said: “A small group of us have been trying to get the ball rolling – and I know it takes many years – for a relief road around Knutsford.

Knutsford Guardian:

“As part of that we were promised by a senior member of the officers of this council last year there would be an A50 corridor traffic study done as soon as the works on the M6 were finished.

“Can I ask how that is going because it is not just the A50 roundabout that needs looking at, it’s the whole lot. There are air quality management areas connected to that in Knutsford.

“I have not actually seen any studying going on and I just want to make sure that is still happening.”

Members were told about the A50 study at a meeting of CEC’s environment and regeneration overview and scrutiny committee (OSC) last September.

It was hoped the move could open the door to a Knutsford relief road – but a month later, Chris Hindle, CEC’s head of strategic infrastructure, suggested the council would struggle to win funding for such a project because there were not enough new houses proposed for the town by 2030.

Nick Kelly, environmental protection team leader at CEC, told the environment and regeneration OSC on Monday: “We are currently looking at the A50 roundabout, the main junction.

“Whilst I know you have mentioned in the past and we have spoken about a relief road around Knutsford, it’s nothing that we are aware of at the moment that is coming forward.

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“But we can certainly go to highways and have a chat with them to see if that’s something that is being proposed moving forward.

“We would be likely to support anything like that that is going to improve air quality in the Knutsford area.”