Today roads minister Jesse Norman approved almost £55m of government funding to support to scheme, which will halve peak journey times along the A4440 and pave the way for up to 5,600 new homes.

Alun Griffiths has been working on Phase 4 under an early contractor involvement contract.

The project will see the existing A4440 between Ketch and Powick roundabouts dualled, including Carrington Bridge over the Severn, a notorious bottleneck.

Full four phases of the A4440 Worcester Southern Link Road

A new bridge will be constructed with a 1.5 metre gap from the existing bridge which would continue to be used for traffic in both directions until its counterpart was complete.

The proposed 200m long bridge will have just three spans rather than six built before to minimise construction works within the floodplain and adjacent to the River Severn.

The three-span arrangement requires a more substantial superstructure to achieve the longer spans but also reduces construction time by seven weeks.

A new steel single span cycle and pedestrian bridge is planned over Hams Way (A4440) to the west of Powick roundabout. To achieve the required 5.7m clearance above the A4440, 125m long approach ramps are being proposed at both ends.

Main construction works on the design and build contract are expected to start in March 2019 and take two years to complete.

Councillor Ken Pollock, Worcestershire County Council, said: “This is great news for Worcestershire! We welcome this announcement of funding approval which paves the way for the final phase of the scheme to fully dual the Southern Link Road from the M5 to the Powick Roundabout.”