We are enduring a summer of road closures. King Street will remain closed for the foreseeable future on Fridays and Saturdays between 10am and 3pm on Fridays and Saturdays. Julian Road is closed at present for urgent repairs to a sewer that has created a small sinkhole. While that road is closed, the nine-month closure of Sandpits Road for a complete renewal of all utilities can’t begin. This is expected to get underway on Thursday.
Coming up next Monday, we have the closure of Temeside for gas main works. This will be a 24-hour road closure between Weeping Cross and Old Street. It is scheduled for four weeks ending 14 August.
Traffic levels are low at the moment. But this closure will mean more vehicles turning onto Sheet Road from Weeping Cross. It will mean more traffic on Lower and Upper Galdeford. And on Friday and Saturday, it will mean that bus routes will have to be changed yet again.
When King Street is closed, the town bus (the combined 701/22 Covid-19 service), diverts down Weeping Cross, through Temeside and up Old Street. This is known colloquially as the “festival route”. Buses terminate and pick up at the Compasses on Broad Street. This routing has been in place for many years for during food festivals, fayres, and of course the May Fair. (Remember those!) Bus users and drivers are very familiar with this routing.
On Thursdays and Fridays during the Temeside closure, the town bus service will approach the town centre via the supermarkets, going up Corve Street and on to Old Street. At the bottom of Old Street, the buses will turn at the Temeside junction and head back up the hill to the Compasses. There will be a temporary bus stop at the Temeside junction. Warning signs will be put in place to alert drivers to turning vehicles.
The 435 from Shrewsbury and the Knighton bus, 738, will also turn here.
The Temeside roadworks, like many others, are inconvenient. But this street has had a long history of problems with the gas mains on Temeside. We need to get the repairs done.