Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill enhancement work completed

Councillor Ann Hartley, Chairman of Shropshire Council, cuts the ribbon at the top of Pride Hill, watched by Martin Wood, town crier, and representatives from Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury Town Council, Shrewsbury BID and McPhillips.

Work to upgrade and enhance Shrewsbury’s Pride Hill has been completed – with a special ribbon cutting ceremony held today (6 September 2019) to mark the end of the work.

The work – carried out as part of the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package – has significantly improved one of the town’s main shopping streets, and has included:

• Resurfacing the pedestrianised area with high-quality materials to reinforce the character of the street;
• Replacing street furniture to reflect the high quality finish;
• Reducing street clutter;
• Improving pedestrian connections at either end of the street;
• Emphasising key access points with the street with the use of informal banding;
• Enhancing the setting of High Cross.

Work began in April 2018 and, following a delay due to a change of contractor midway through the work, was completed by McPhillips (Wellington) Ltd.

The ribbon cutting was attended by representatives from Shropshire Council, Shrewsbury BID, Shrewsbury Town Council and McPhillips.

The work was declared complete by Martin Wood, Shrewsbury’s town crier, before the ribbon was cut by Councillor Ann Hartley, chairman of Shropshire Council.

Town Crier Martin Wood, and his consort Sue Wood

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and transport, said:

“As the primary shopping street in the town centre, the upgrading of Pride Hill is key to improving the public and urban realm for Shrewsbury. We thank businesses, traders and the public for their patience and understanding while this important work was carried out.

“We fully acknowledge that the work has taken longer than was originally planned, and it’s well known that we took the difficult decision to change contractors because the initial delivery of the scheme this year was not what was expected. In spite of this, the Council prioritised the quality of the completed scheme with the change of contractors, and is now delighted that this decision has been vindicated with the ‘new Pride Hill’ area.

“We’ve been extremely pleased with the quality of work and business engagement carried out by our new contractor, McPhillips. People will see a significant and notable improvement now that the work is complete and we’ve already had a lot of positive comments.”

The Pride Hill work is part of a programme of enhancement works in Shrewsbury town centre being carried out as part of the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package (SITP), and aims to make a positive and consistent change to the quality of the public realm within Shrewsbury town centre.

Future work will include:

• ‘Light touch’ enhancement of existing spaces at The Square.
• High Street style’ improvements at Mardol and Roushilll.
• Junction improvements at Bellstone / Shoplatch and Mardol / Roushill.
• Improvements to commuter cycle and pedestrian corridors across the town
• Installation of town wide Variable Messaging System to inform and update drivers and visitors of traffic situations ahead and major events.

More information about the work and the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package can be found at www.shropshire.gov.uk/sitp.