The councillor in charge of Warwickshire County Council's delayed and over-budget 'Bridge to Nowhere' says that "someone has already lost their job" over the debacle.

A second new bridge over the A46 at Stoneleigh Junction, near Kenilworth, was commissioned to link with the existing bridge to create a roundabout to alleviate traffic and improve road safety in the area.

Problems sourcing backfill material, a subsequent redesign and disagreements with contractors Colas have seen the finish date delayed by five years and costs potentially more than double.

Current portfolio holder for transport and planning Cllr Stephen Shaw confirmed in a live BBC radio interview last month that the new maximum budget, set late last year in a confidential meeting of all county councillors, is £80 million.

The initial cost estimate when detailed designs were completed was £38 million.

Cllr Shaw went on to tell the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he believes a greater initial investment might have prevented the problems, suggesting that the structure of the deal that put the council on the hook for cost overruns was a mistake.

He argues that the council should go out to tender on the basis of "design and build scenarios" with tier one – the biggest and most expensive – contracts, placing responsibility in the hands of contractors so "we don't overstretch the council again".

"We will audit this job and make sure we know where every penny has gone, why it went wrong and as portfolio holder I will be saying to officers that this cannot happen again," said Cllr Shaw.

"If you try to save one pound you end up spending three. Money is tight, we know that, and we cannot afford to make mistakes like we did with the A46."

Asked whether there had been mistakes on the council's part, Cllr Shaw replied: "It was way before my time but I have spoken to several officers about this, the cheapest quote is not always the best.

"I'd rather pay that little bit extra to make sure projects stay within budget. This is where we have to put processes in place with procurement, design, everything, to make sure we are not liable for anything like this where the cost has more than doubled."

Asked whether current staff would be held to account, he reiterated plans for a "full audit" and added: "Someone has already lost their job over it. Another officer has taken over that role who is doing a fantastic job and we have full trust in."

He confirmed when asked which role had been vacated but did not know the name of the individual. We have decided against naming that role prior to establishing more detail.

Asked whether the person had been dismissed, Cllr Shaw said the matter had been dealt with prior to him being elected as a councillor, suggesting that the portfolio holder for transport and planning prior to the change of power through the May 2025 local elections Cllr Jan Matecki would "have more detail on that".

"That is a question for the Conservative administration in place at the time," said Cllr Shaw.

"The main thing is that we have the right team in place now to push this job forward. I fully support the officers we have on this job now and we will deliver it within the timeframe (end of July 2027) and budget (£80 million) set.

"I want to make clear that the current team is doing a great job on this and other projects but the wheels are in motion to improve things on the procurement side."

Work got back underway on the project in early 2026 with concrete pouring taking place in recent weeks.

Cllr Matecki said it would be inappropriate to comment on matters related to specific officers and that it would only be appropriate to discuss the A46 project in detail once it had been completed.

He said that would be the right time for "full disclosure" through a summary of lessons learned by the council, something he envisages will be considered by the communities overview and scrutiny committee that he chairs.

Warwickshire County Council has been approached to confirm who was involved in putting together the A46 contract and whether anyone was dismissed or disciplined over issues related to the project. Receipt of the questions has been confirmed and we are awaiting response.