Wilton Road and Royal Parade in Ross-on-Wye close from 19 October to 11 December while the council builds a rock trap and a stone-faced wall below the rock face.

Wilton Road in Ross-on-Wye will close completely from Monday 19 October to Friday 11 December. Herefordshire Council is starting long-awaited work to stop rocks from the cliff above reaching the road.

The council announced the scheme on 12 October. It says the road will shut between both of its junctions with Wye Street. Royal Parade will also be closed for the whole of the works. Ross-on-Wye is about 14 miles south-east of Hereford.

What is being built

The council has appointed a contractor, which it does not name. Its release lists the work as:

  • removing vegetation from the base of the rock face
  • new drainage
  • a rock trap to catch future falls
  • a concrete block wall faced with stone

The council says the new wall should also blend in better with the rock face than the current barriers do.

Why now

Rocks fell onto Wilton Road in 2019. The road was closed, and temporary barriers were put up so it could reopen. The council says there have been further rockfalls since, all caught by those barriers.

A permanent fix has been a long time coming. In November 2024 Balfour Beatty Living Places advertised for a subcontractor because the council required “a permanent barrier solution with a rock trap running along the length of the rock face”. That notice said the rock face lies within an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, with a number of properties and a churchyard above it.

The council’s release says a long-term solution has been a priority for Ross Town Council and local people. It says the timing has been planned around the site’s ecology, with work kept outside sensitive periods to avoid disturbing nesting birds and bats.

Two different end dates

The council’s statutory notice and its press release do not quite agree.

  • The notice of intention, published on 8 October, covers the B4260 from Wye Street to Royal Parade and Royal Parade itself. It gives each a proposed start of 19 October and a duration of six weeks.
  • The press release, four days later, says the closure runs to 11 December, which is nearly eight weeks.

Plan on the longer date. The council says definitive dates are shown on advance warning signs on site.

What it means for you

  • Drivers: signed diversions will be in place. The notice says the routes will also be published on one.network. The council asks people to plan journeys and allow extra time.
  • On foot: the council says pedestrian access will be kept “wherever possible”.
  • Businesses: the council is contacting properties and businesses in the immediate area. It is urging businesses to plan ahead and make other delivery arrangements where needed.
  • Questions: Herefordshire Council on 01432 261800, or the Herefordshire Highways accounts on X and Facebook, which the council says will carry updates.

Other closures across the county this month, including in Ross, Ledbury and Leominster, are on our Hereford roadworks page.

Sources