Fixes suggested for town's road scheme

There have been complaints about the redesigned gyratory system into Shrewsbury

A number of short-term fixes have been suggested to improve traffic flow into Shrewsbury town centre.

There have complaints about a build up of traffic outside the railway station since the new gyratory road system was redesigned, along with concerns about the safety of passengers at a new bus stop.

Shropshire councillors met on Monday to look at potential solutions. Meeting chairman Ed Potter said the committee had recommended resequencing the traffic lights and looking for a new location for the bus stop.

It was also important to learn lessons for the future and there was a safety review underway, he said.

Work on the gyratory project, which began in June 2024, has cost about £3.8m, with most of the money coming from the government.

It was agreed by the previous Conservative administration and Potter, also Conservative, said it was important the council took advantage of funding when it was available.

But he also said it was important the wider context of travel in the town was considered in projects such as this and that was a lesson to be learnt.

Monday's meeting involved highways officers, contractors, businesses, the town's BID group and the fire service and traffic data was examined.

Work had been complicated further by the number of utilities running below the road surface and the designs for the work had been amended because of the presence of fibre optic cables.

'Lights issue'

One of the issues raised has been the floating bus stop outside the train station.

Having a bus stop near that location was important to encourage the use of public transport, Potter said.

But safety concerns were raised as the size of the passenger waiting area was smaller than Department for Transport guidance.

Arriva Midlands took the decision to suspend services to that stop. A new location would be looked for, Potter said.

Work on the cycle lane under the railway bridge was still to be completed and something needed to be done with the traffic lights to make sure fire engines could get through in an emergency.

"There does seem to be an issue around the lights and the sequencing there," he said.

The recommendations from his scrutiny committee will go before the council's cabinet on 3 December.