A MAJOR road on the outskirts of Worcester will be closed this weekend but pedestrians and cyclists will be without it for up to a year.

Temeside Way will shut at 9pm tonight (Friday) until 5.30am on Monday, May 17 when traffic can start using the new section of the Carrington Bridge.

It is the latest leg of work on the A4440 Southern Link Road but the shutting off of the route for walkers and cyclists has not gone down well on Twitter.

The diversion for the 1.3-mile route via Diglis Bridge more than doubles the distance to 2.8 miles with members of the public pointing out that when flooding hits, the route via Worcester Bridge racks up 4.7 miles.

A Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said: “A new improved foot/cycleway will be provided on the northern side of Temeside Way between the Powick and Ketch roundabouts as part of the current improvements to the Southern Link Road.

“The new path will generally be 3.5m in width, compared with the current path which varies between 1m and 2m. Where it crosses the Powick Viaduct and Carrington Bridge, the path will be increased from the current width of 2m to 3m.

“Our contractor is going to be switching all vehicular traffic over from the current carriageway to the new road over the weekend of 14-16 May 2021 to enable them to construct the new foot/cycleway and to carry out essential maintenance work on the existing carriageway.

“Unfortunately, it is not possible to accommodate pedestrians or cyclists on a dedicated foot/cycleway during these works for safety reasons, and as such a diversion has been signposted via Diglis Bridge until the works are completed in spring 2022.

"We apologise for any inconvenience this causes pedestrians and cyclists while the work is taking place."