SAFETY concerns have been raised over a 'creepy' new underpass beneath the A4440 Southern Link Road.

The underpass, due to open tomorrow (Friday, May 13), runs under Temeside Way between the Ketch Roundabout and Carrington Bridge.

It will be the fourth crossing of the road to be opened by Worcestershire County Council, following the Crookbarrow Way, Hams Way and Broomhall Way bridges.

The council shared pictures of the new underpass on its social media accounts this week and they got a mixed reception from residents.

A number of people said it wouldn’t be long before the concrete walls of the underpass were covered in graffiti, with one Facebook user describing it as a “blank canvas for the Banksy wannabe”.

Another said: “What time on Friday will it be open? As I bet it will have graffiti on it a few hours later - then people will be drinking in it, being sick in it and other bodily functions.”

Other people were more concerned about the safety of walking through an underpass, or as one person put it: “Now that doesn’t look creepy does it?”.

Another Facebook user said: “OMG people are still giving the green light to underpasses?”, while a Worcester News reader commented: “Looks very inviting to use if out alone at night”.

A Twitter user said: “Great idea for the local crackheads and graffiti artists, then there’s the drunks who will **** up the walls. On the other hand it’s a lot safer than crossing the dual carriageway.”

A traffic-free route for pedestrians and cyclists

Other residents said they’d been keeping an eye on construction of the underpass for a while and were hopeful it would be useful for cyclists.

“Look forward to trying it out,” said one, “hope it links up well both sides and also for bikes has a safe/sensible way of rejoining the road as this sometimes seems to get forgotten.”

READ MORE: Southern Link Road underpass set to open in A4440 improvements

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Worcestershire Highways responded to residents on Twitter to say the underpass would be lit and have CCTV.

A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council said: “The underpass will be lit and will provide a traffic-free route for pedestrians and cyclists, which is preferable to the current arrangement of using an uncontrolled crossing.

“Worcester City Council will be installing CCTV over the summer.”