Council awarded £650,000 to improve safety on A5191 in Shrewsbury

Shropshire Council has been awarded £650,000 from the Department for Transport to improve safety on the A5191 in Shrewsbury – between the junction with the A5112 at Heathgates island to the north, and the junction with the A458 at Wyle Cop to the south.

Between 2018 and 2023 there were 70 recorded casualties along the A5191, including 15 serious injuries, of which 10 were pedestrian and 16 were cyclists.

In September 2022, a Safer Roads Scheme on the A5191 was listed as one of 138 projects across the country set to receive funding under the Government’s Growth Plan. Since then Shropshire Council has been working with the Road Safety Foundation and its partners to develop a road safety scheme, and prepare a funding bid.

The government has now confirmed that the funding bid has been successful.

The scheme includes a range of traffic management measures that aim to reduce the number of casualties on this stretch of road in future. It will also align with planned work to improve the railway station gyratory area, and the redevelopment of the Flaxmill Maltings site.

Work will include:

• A new crossing at Mount Pleasant road junction, northern arm – to make it safer for pedestrians to cross the road.
• Vehicle activated signs  to reduce speeds along this stretch of the road.
• Restrict/combine direct access to commercial premises near Long Row and Wingfield Gardens. Access is currently gained across the footway, with a dropped kerb present for long stretches.
• Central hatching to manage speed through visually reducing the carriageway width.

Dan Morris, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member for highways, said:

“All external funding to help improve road safety in Shropshire is to be welcomed so this is great news.

“We welcomed the recent announcement that the A5191 Shrewsbury Safer Road Scheme had been selected as one of the infrastructure projects set to receive funding under the Government’s new Growth Plan – and we’re now delighted that our subsequent funding bid has been successful and that work can soon begin to improve safety on this busy stretch of road.”

The options being considered have been compiled based on data analysis, local knowledge, and budgetary constraints.