High Street in Shrewsbury closure to end at 4pm each day from next Monday

High Street in Shrewsbury will reopen to traffic – including buses – one hour earlier from next Monday (17 May 2021), with traffic able to travel up Wyle Cop and along High Street and Shoplatch from 4pm, rather than 5pm as at present.

The change will be implemented following this week’s confirmation that further restrictions from the third Lockdown will be eased from Monday in Step 3 of the Government’s roadmap, with hospitality businesses able to serve customers indoors.

The measures in Shrewsbury have been put in place to support social distancing, to provide a safer environment for people to enjoy a vehicle-free town centre, and to create additional outside space for tables and chairs.

The earlier ending of the High Street closure will also see parking and loading restrictions lifted at 4pm, and make it safer for children leaving schools and colleges on Town Walls – one of the main diversion routes for buses and other vehicles.

From Monday. businesses that hold pavement licences allowing them to put tables and chairs on High Street will have to remove these items before the road reopens for vehicular traffic at 4pm. This is in line with their pavement licence conditions, which mean that the use of tables and chairs on High Street is subject to the road being closed to vehicles.

Steve Brown, Shropshire Council’s head of transport and the environment, said:

“With restrictions from the third Lockdown set to be further eased from 17 May, we’ve agreed that the closure of High Street should end one hour earlier, allowing traffic to travel up Wyle Cop and along High Street from 4pm each day.

“We’re happy that we’ll still have measures in place that will enable people to safely visit Shrewsbury in line with social distancing guidelines, and we continue to encourage people to visit all of our market towns in the coming weeks and support our local traders.”