Road safety improvement work to begin on Featherbed Lane, Shrewsbury

Work to implement a traffic-calming scheme and 20mph zone on Featherbed Lane in Shrewsbury is to start on 23 October [2022], and last around three weeks.

It will take place close to Sundorne Infant School and Nursery and Harlescott Junior School, part of the Haughmond Federation.

The work – which follows the expansion of the school site – will also include widening the pedestrian crossing, an upgrade to streetlights, some tree pruning (to improve the effectiveness of the lights), resurfacing of footpaths, and planting of extra hedgerows.

It’s the first stage of the highways work to support the expansion of the school, with further work to improve other entrances to the school set to follow.

Ahead of work starting, the Featherbed Lane improvements plan has gone on display at the school.

During the work the road will be closed from 8am to 5pm from Monday 24 October to Friday 11 November 2022 and signed diversions in place. Access to the school and to residential and business properties will be maintained.

Work nearest to the school will be completed during half-term.

Kirstie Hurst-Knight, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for children and education, said:

“This work will help to make Featherbed Lane much safer for all travelling to and from the school, and make a real difference to the appearance of the area.”

Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways and regulatory services, said:

“I’m really pleased that work is set to begin soon and thank people for their understanding while this important work is carried out. They’ll see a real difference once it’s complete.”

The plans have been drawn up by Shropshire Council’s highways and education teams, working with PSG (the council’s Property Services Group) and its engineering consultants WSP.

Work will be carried out by Kier, the council’s highways contractor.

The work on the school – including this work and the expansion itself – is being Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL)-funded through developer contributions.

CIL is collected from developments and used to provide infrastructure in the impacted area – including education, highways, bus services and more.