Work to begin on next phase of Shrewsbury town centre enhancements
Work to improve footways, crossing points, road signs, street furniture and road surfaces are to begin in Shrewsbury town centre later this month.
The work – being carried out by Shropshire Council as part of the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package (SITP) – will be carried out between Smithfield Road and Bellstone, on Roushill, Mardol and Claremont Street.
New natural stone kerb lines will be constructed to provide wider footways and new pedestrian crossing points. The footways will be repaved with high-quality natural stone materials. Updated street furniture, and traffic sign upgrades are also planned.
Resurfacing of the roads will be carried out during the course of the year as each phase of the work is completed. This will minimise the impact that a long period of road closures would have, and enable work to be completed as early as possible.
There will be some short-term closures for drainage connection work, and on-street parking spaces and loading bays will be unavailable during the work.
All road closures as part of the scheme will be publicised in advance, and access to premises will be maintained.
To avoid any disruption visitors to the town centre are encouraged to use the park and ride service – or to park in Frankwell or Abbey Foregate car parks, rather than the car parks within the river loop.
While work is carried out Shropshire Council and Shrewsbury BID will be trialling different ways of using the parking and loading bays. For example, a number of mini parks – or parklets – are being planned.
Work will be carried out by McPhillips, Shropshire Council’s contractor. During the works they will be available to address any day-to-day issues that may arise, liaising with businesses regarding loading bay requirements, and accessibility to business and residential premises
The work is in keeping with the aims of the Shrewsbury Big Town Plan and will ensure that these streets match the look and feel of High Street, which underwent improvement work last summer.
The Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package work is externally funded, via the Marches LEP and developer contributions. This next phase of work will cost c. £2m.
Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:
“Alongside the upgrading of Pride Hill, the enhancement of Town Walls to Claremont Bank, and the recent facelift of the kerbs and paving on High Street, this work is key to improving the public and urban realm for Shrewsbury. We thank people for their understanding while all of this important work is carried out – they will see a further significant and notable improvement to the town centre once this next phase of work is complete.”
The work will be carried out in phases and will be completed in early 2021.
