Update on the condition of the road at Waymills in Whitchurch

Last updated: 12 June 2018

Defect repairs have been carried out along Waymills in Whitchurch in order to address the immediate safety concerns.

Waymills had been identified for resurfacing and was originally in the programme for this financial year. However, Shropshire Council’s highways and transport capital budget has been reduced by £5m for this and next financial year. This reduction is to support Shropshire Council in meeting its savings targets, which are as a result of reduced central government funding and also recognise the additional pressure on adult social care budgets.

This has meant that a number of planned highways improvement schemes scheduled to be carried out in 2018/19 have had to be delayed or deferred until 2019; this included the resurfacing scheme at Waymills. The budget reduction was made after the works programme was agreed. Therefore the sequence in which the work was programmed and carried out is not in a priority sequence, due to various constraints (road space availability, resources etc).

A resurfacing scheme has been undertaken at Steel Lane as part of the original programme. The condition data of the carriageway combined with the practicalities of carrying out the works meant that the Steel Lane scheme was always programmed for delivery before Waymills.

However, over recent months the condition of the carriageway at Waymills has significantly deteriorated. Whilst inspections and safety defect repairs have been increased, the need for a permanent repair has become more pressing.

At present Waymills is being assessed for resurfacing this financial year. The assessment will help to determine the appropriate engineering design, as well as the necessary works and the logistics and the appropriate traffic management. The work will require the road to be closed, which will need to be permitted and scheduled. Once the permits have been granted, it will then be possible to provide further details in relation to the proposed dates for the works.

Increased monitoring and any necessary safety defect repairs will continue in the meantime.