Shrewsbury town centre enhancement scheme

About the scheme

As part of the continual enhancement of the townscape of the centre of Shrewsbury, we have been working with our consultants Mouchel Parkman and our contractors Alun Griffiths ltd to improve the visual appearance and usability of the streets of Castle Gates through to Wyle Cop. This scheme, completed in May 2008, has provided a uniform footway throughout the route, improve the environment for pedestrians and provide a safe traffic zone.

Reasons behind the scheme design

This scheme was carefully designed to improve the visual appearance of the street along the route from the railway station to the junction of Wyle Cop, Beeches Lane and St Julian’s Friars. This included the replacement of the existing pavement surface with high quality Yorkstone paving, the installation of new granite kerbs and the introduction of number a designated courtesy pedestrian crossings. The scheme has also made clear the existing priority bus lane along Castle Gates and Castle Street.

Programme of works

The work was split into three phases. These included:

• Phase one - This first phase was completed in June 2007 and included improvements to the pavements on Castle Gates and Castle Street.
• Phase two - This phase included improvements to the pavements, parking and loading bays on Wyle Cop.
• Phase three - Work on the final phase started on 28 January 2008 and included work on St. Mary's Street and Dogpole. The majority of this work has now been carried out and both St Mary's Street and Dogpole are now open.

The traffic reduction trial during the third phase

This trial was undertaken at the same time as the third phase of the roadworks. Unfortunately, given the historic road network within the town centre and restricted road widths, it was necessary to close St Mary's Street and Dogpole to traffic to protect the health and safety of both the public and our workforce.

The traditional approach to this road closure would have been to have a single diversion route using St. Michael’s Street and Ditherington Road to Heathgates Island, then the old bypass around to Old Potts Way and then back in via English Bridge.

This approach would have caused more significant delays on the route from the station to Heathgates island. There would have been more traffic on this route than with the current arrangements. This would have also resulted in a reduction in the frequency of the Park & Ride services, and severe difficulties for other bus services, which could have compromised the viability of a number of bus routes within the town.

The arrangements were put in place with a view to lessening this effect, and to trial traffic management arrangements which would reduce the level of through traffic in the town, particularly High Street and Town Walls.

This traffic does not stop within the town centre and contribute to the economy of the town, but does make the High Street a less pleasant environment. The opportunity was also taken to trial new bus routes which would reduce the number of buses using High Street. Both of these objectives have been identified by many people as issues which should be addressed.

The results of this traffic reduction trial will be reported to our economy and environment scrutiny panel in September 2008.