The lane closure at Bayston Hill will be in place for weeks to come due to structural damage to a home and the Three Fishes pub. The house, next door to the Hong Kong City takeaway, is structurally unstable and vibrations from two-way traffic on the A49 could cause collapse. Work on the Three Fishes is likely to proceed quickly, the situation with the house is less clear. The building may need to be demolished.
Shropshire Council’s highways team and structural engineers have been on site and are working with the insurers and National Highways to reduce the delays to traffic as quickly as possible. Current National Highways have booked the lane closure until 9 May 2025. Let’s hope it is not that long as it will disrupt Christmas and Easter traffic.
The 435 will not serve Ryton, Bushmoor, or Wistanstow today (Tuesday) due to road conditions. A morning accident at Marshbrook and roadworks at Leebotwood are adding to delays.
Management of the lane closure is the responsibility of National Highways which owns the A49, which is part of the Primary Road Network. The buildings are of course privately owned and work on them will be the responsibility of the insurers. However, the lane closure is having such an impact on bus services, traffic and daily life, Shropshire Council’s highways team and structural engineers have been on site to assess the situation and give what support they can. The building control team arrived on the site on 11 November, the day of the accident.
Yesterday evening, the council’s highways team emailed me an update on the current situation. The text below is based on that briefing and information from Minsterley Motors and one.network.
The insurers for the Three Fishes public house have acted quickly and were out on site last week to begin clearance and stabilisation. They have warned that it could take six to eight months for completion of the restoration works but it is hoped the building will be stabilised much sooner than this.
The house next to the Hong Kong City takeaway appears to be a bigger issue. The cracking on the building looks extensive and demolition of the property may be needed. Until the damaged gable wall has been stabilised, the single traffic management system must remain. The additional vibration of a two-way highway could cause the building to collapse. Re-opening the pavement is not an option until the building is stable.
The traffic lights, which are not manually controlled, are causing tailbacks in both directions. The southbound queue sometimes stretches back to Dobbies Island on the carriageway causing problems on the A5.
The length of the closure, which begins at Pulley Lane to the south of the takeaway, is contributing to delays. This is to include emergency gas supply repairs. The gas engineers, Cadent, are due to complete their work today. Once Cadent has cleared the site, the length of the lane closure will be reduced, easing traffic queues a little. It is hoped that the phasing of the lights can be adjusted to improve traffic flow and reducing queuing at Dobbies Island.
For those thinking of rat-running on Pulley Lane, Lower Pulley Lane is due to be closed today for Openreach works.
To add to the misery, roadworks in Leebotwood are causing traffic congestion. National Highways should suspend all other roadworks on the A49 between Ludlow and Shrewsbury unless they are an emergency until the problems at Bayston Hill are resolved.
Shropshire Council’s area contractor currently is looking at strategic signage points to try and divert long distance north/south traffic onto routes other than the A49.
Today, the expected 10 to 15 minutes delays on the 435 Ludlow Shrewsbury service may be increased by the continuing snowfall.
That’s what we know so far. I’ll update as soon as more information comes in.