Essential roadwork to replace the decking above a 1930s culvert on Coronation Avenue began on Monday. This will protect the culvert and maintain flood protection.
The start of the work was delayed allowing vehicles from the Live at Ludlow Castle events to leave the town northwards. Once the closure was in place, traffic diverted illegally through Lower Corve Street which is an access only road.
Initially, the agreed signage to discourage traffic using Lower Corve Street was not put in place. Some diversion signs were also not put in correctly. Through its consultants, Shropshire Highways has arranged for the contractor Kier to put the correct signage in place. That should be put in place today or at the latest tomorrow for signs that have had to be ordered. Monitoring will continue by the council, its consultants and Keir.
The traffic using Lower Corve Street at the moment is not just light traffic but heavy trucks and coaches.
Lower Corve Street has long been used as a rat run between Corve Street and Fishmore Road. The problem has become worse since the Raglan Place estate was built. It is a residential street and a conservation area. Drivers save around half a minute by using Lower Corve Street instead of travelling over Corve Bridge and Coronation Avenue. Many do it despite knowing they are breaking the law. Local police have recently issued warnings to drivers but have not yet clamped down with prosecutions.
For the five week duration of the roadworks, traffic is being directed to use the bypass to get from one part of the town to another. This is quite a diversion but drivers who use Lower Corve Street are at risk of being prosecuted.
Why does shropshire not engage with Keir directly rather than threough consultants? How extra does this cost to do basic road works other councils do themselves?
This is a legacy of the Conservative administration. Their “award winning” management structure created an impressive bureacracy. This shielded council managers and senior councillors from what was happening on the ground. Result. Inflated costs that stretched a limited budget to a point to where Shropshire Council was not keeping up with the decay of the roads, despite bungs of money from the government. It will take us some while to unwind the complexities of the managerial structure and contracts. We have this problem elsewhere in the council but we have not yet been in post for even 100 days.
I live near but not on Lower Corve Street. I have seen multiple vehicles flouting the law and using the street for a quick way round the road works.
Disabled customers of mine who live in near the leisure centre tell me that their wings are now clipped until the roadworks finish. The Shrewsbury bus apparently does not now run close to them, only as far as Station Drive, which is too far for them to walk.
Sorry this has happened. The roadworks are essential and we looked at using traffic lights but that would have extended the work to 17 weeks, as well as extensive delays. The 435 bus is too long to get over Corve Bridge without grounding, hence the diversion via the A49. The only good news is that the work is currently ahead of schedule.
Cheers, they will be glad to know that.