Sunday shoppers urged to visit Shrewsbury while university accommodation work is carried out
Shoplatch in Shrewsbury will be closed on Sunday 5 July and Sunday 12 July 2015 while essential drainage and gas works is carried out at Mardol House – which is providing student accommodation for University Centre Shrewsbury from September 2015.
But Shrewsbury town centre will be ‘open for business’ on both days – and people are being urged to take advantage of the new Sunday parking offer that means they can ‘pay £1 and park all day’ in the town’s long-stay car parks, or pay £1 for the maximum stay period in short stay car parks.
On those two Sundays, Shoplatch will be closed from 6am until 6am the next day. During the closure, through traffic will be diverted via Town Walls and Claremont Bank.
In order to minimise any further future disruption Shropshire Council has arranged further planned work, involving a temporary crane installation on High Street and maintenance work in Shoplatch, to take place at the same time.
Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:
The arrival of the university into Shrewsbury is a very exciting time for the town, and we unfortunately need to close the roads for a short period to get this important work completed. The nature of the job means a road closure is necessary to complete it properly and quickly.
“Throughout this programme of work we have worked very closely with local businesses to make sure that disruption is kept to a minimum.
“We want to thank everyone in advance for their understanding while this work takes place, and encourage them to visit and shop in the town on these two Sundays.”
Mike Dalton, owner of stop. coffee shop and stop. cafe bar, said:
“The planned Sunday closures will enable this essential work to take place without impacting on the town’s busy summer events programme. This is part of an important development for the long term growth of the town and we are all looking forward to University Centre Shrewsbury being open and welcoming new students to Shrewsbury. Many businesses will be open on 5 July and 12 July, and with the new £1 car parking tariff, there is even more reason to visit.”
Helen Ball, Clerk of Shrewsbury Town Council, said:
“We are delighted to see the aspirations of a University for Shrewsbury becoming a reality and it will be wonderful to have that in the very heart of Shrewsbury town centre. Shropshire Council and its contractor have worked very hard to deliver student accommodation in such a very short timescale and have managed to minimise disruption in the process. The long-term benefit of the university for the town will be significant.”
