Council 'let down' by floating bus stop contractor

Alex Wagner said the authority had trusted the measurements it was given

Shropshire Council will re-evaluate its relationship with the company responsible for work around Shrewsbury's railway station, its deputy leader has said.

It comes after the BBC found a new "floating bus stop" built by the authority's transport consultant, WSP, is narrower than the minimum size recommended by the Department for Transport (DfT) guidance issued in 2020.

Alex Wagner said the Liberal Democrat-run council felt "somewhat let down".

The BBC has contacted WSP for comment, but it previously said the island ended up smaller than planned because workers found unexpected underground utilities that forced a change in the design.

"In the designs it was listed as 1.5 metres, and we accept that isn't the gold standard, but that does meet guidance for the blind and the disabled and those using the location," said Wagner.

"As a councillor, to some extent you have to trust what paid professionals are telling you about a site."

Campaigners have criticised the project

The BBC measured the buffer area between the road and cycle lane at about 1.1m wide.

However, government guidance suggests it should be between 1.5m and 2m, meaning it is nearly 40cm short of the minimum width.

Disability campaigners and wheelchair users have criticised the project, claiming the island is dangerously small and not-fit-for-purpose.

"We treat them [WSP] with quite high regard with getting design, quick design in particular, that we might need all around the county," Wagner explained.

"It means that things don't go out to tender in the way they might for a bigger public contract."

He said that the issue would be taken to a scrutiny committee of cross-party councillors who would look at what had happened, and the options.

"There's some talk about the variations on the scheme which we think could be up to 10% of the overall costs being recouped if need be."

He said this could be the "catalyst for change" in how the authority manages its contracts.

'Bus stop needs to go'

Brendan Mallon, deputy group leader of the largest opposition party on Shropshire Council, Reform UK, said the floating bus stop "needs to go", and the new cycle lane should be made into a lane for traffic again.

"We already have a cycle lane along this path, back in I believe 2011, this path was widened and the pull-in lane for buses was taken away," he said.

He said there should be two lanes, a bus stop on one side and a free-flowing path on the other side - which he said would give vehicles like fire engines a "fair chance" of getting through traffic.