Meole Brace school safety measures on agenda at community meeting

A number of schemes to help improve the safety of pupils attending schools in the Meole Brace and surrounding areas of Shrewsbury are underway or being planned – with Shropshire Council officers set to attend a meeting of the Radbrook Road Safety Group on 25 November to tell people about the plans.

The meeting will be held at the Radbrook Community Centre, starting at 7.30pm.

Following requests from local councillors and community groups Shropshire Council officers have been looking closely at ways to improve pedestrian safety in the Longden Road, Roman Road, Mousecroft Lane and Bank Farm Road areas – with the safety of school pupils paramount – and a number of projects have been identified and progressed, including:

• Potential road safety improvements at the Longden Road / Roman Road roundabout.
• Vehicle-activated signs (VAS) on Bank Farm Road.
• A formal crossing at the Sweet Lake Meadow estate and a raised table on the Mousecroft Lane/Stanley Lane junction as a continuation of the pedestrian facilities.
• A 20mph zone in the area of Meole Brace School.
• School travel planning for the area.

The schemes will be funded through Government funding and developer contributions.

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

“The safety of children travelling to and from school is vitally important and we’re grateful to the local community for highlighting their road safety concerns in the area, particularly in relation to walking and cycling in the vicinity of the nearby schools.

“Officers have been working closely with local residents and groups over the past few months as our plans have been developed and progressed, and are thankful for the opportunity to attend the meeting on 25 November to enable people to find out more.

“A number of measures have been looked at and are happening, but there are also future changes to the area that also need to be mitigated. This includes the new schools on Squinter Pip Way. Officers are therefore also looking at work that would help support and improve safety around all the existing and new schools in the area, well into the future.”

The first phase of work in the Longden Road/Roman Road area will be improvement works on the roundabout, likely to be carried out in the 2023/24 financial year and funded through Government funding. The second stage of work would be improving the cycle network in the area, with the outcome of an ongoing study set to inform what else needs to be done.

The installation of vehicle-activated signs (VAS) at five sites to help control the speed of traffic on Bank Farm Road has also been agreed. The signs have been ordered and will be installed as soon as they are received from the supplier.

In addition to the VAS signs officers have continued with developing other projects for the area, including a new crossing point at Mousecroft Lane/Stanley Lane – funded through S106 developer contributions – along with other works to improve cycling/walking routes to the schools from the west. It is anticipated this will work will be carried out this school year.

Officers are also looking to progress two other projects on to Bank Farm Road – subject to funding being available. These are:

• Raised tables at the junction so the active travel route is continuous; and the removal of crossing points and replacing with raised tables.
• A controlled crossing near the Longden Road junction.