Next phase of Shrewsbury station area improvements to begin

An aerial illustration of how the area will look once the work is complete

The next phase of work to enhance and improve the area to the front of Shrewsbury railway station is set to begin on Monday 2 September [2024].

The area includes the gyratory next to Shrewsbury railway station, connecting Castle Gates (A5191), Chester Street (A528), Smithfield Road (A458) and Cross Street (A528), along with areas to the north and south.

Phase one of the work began in June and has covered the eastern side of Castle Foregate from the approach to Howard Street, through to the railway station entrance – with the closure of the left-hand lane on Castle Foregate to the front of the station. Traffic signals and the associated island have also been removed earlier than planned at the Cross Street/Chester Street junction to help ease congestion and avoid disruption to The Gateway when classes resume in mid-September.

Phase two, which covers the western side of Castle Foregate from the approach to Cross Street and through to Smithfield Road, will see the replacement of the old paving slabs throughout.

At the same time, similar work will also be undertaken at the wide paved area in Chester Street, by the Smithfield Road bus stop.

Traffic management measures will be in place – including the closure of the right-hand lane outside the station – for health and safety reasons, and to enable the delivery of materials to the site.

It’s hoped that work in these two areas will be largely completed before Christmas

For more information see the dedicated pages on the Shropshire Council website.

The ‘station quarter’ work – being carried out by local company McPhillips Ltd on behalf of Shropshire Council – is Government funded and is set to be completed by summer 2025.

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

“This project will see improvements around the station gyratory area which will greatly enhance the area, improve accessibility, and ease movement for people travelling through the area – whatever their mode of travel, and we’re making good progress .

“We appreciate that there has inevitably been some disruption to road users and we thank people for their patience and understanding while work is carried out.

“The project team has been working hard to mitigate the traffic congestion as much as possible – with a number of measures put in place – and this will continue throughout the construction of the scheme.

“We also urge drivers not to drive through red lights at the temporary traffic signals, as the system will automatically display red on all the signals for a short period of time. This is a safety feature to allow any such vehicle to clear the area but the knock on effect is that the extended time for holding traffic, only serves to impact on the queues – a few extra seconds on all red can have a big impact on flows.

“The town centre will very much be open for business during the work and we encourage people to continue visiting the town, but to consider using alternative routes if they can, or to use alternative modes of travel – including walking, cycling, public transport and park and ride.”

Measures put in place to help minimise disruption include:

• Pedestrian marshals are on site to assist with directing people to safe crossing points and access to properties.
• The project team is routinely monitoring day to day traffic movements and reporting on any issues.
• Traffic signals removed earlier than planned at the Cross Street/Chester Street junction
• Traffic signal engineers on site during working hours to monitor the temporary traffic signals and adjust timings when considered necessary.
• WSP traffic signal engineer has attended the site every week to assess and where possible, make adjustments to the permanent, existing traffic signals, primarily the Castle Foregate/Smithfield Road junction
• Advance warning signs placed at key locations on the approach to town
• Messaging warning of long delays has been posted on all the large electronic signs, again, on the periphery of the town
• Beacalls Lane is restricted to residents and business use only
• Temporary signs have been installed ahead of certain junctions to advise and try to deter traffic blocking.

Work on the scheme is due to be completed in late spring/early summer 2025.

Any questions about the work can be emailed to the project delivery team on LUF2@shropshire.gov.uk

Further information

The work includes:

• Wider pavements, new signalised crossings and benches. The reduction of traffic and addition a of a footpath along the southern edge of Cross Street will make this a better, safer route for pedestrians.
• Two new cycle routes to the north and south of the scheme via new active travel corridors along Castle Foregate (north of the Station) and Castle Street (south of the station towards the town centre).
• A new 20mph speed limit throughout the Station Gyratory area to reduce vehicle speeds and further improve safety for walking and cycling movement.
• Greener streets and spaces that promote and preserve local biodiversity.
• Improving key junctions and access routes into and out of the Station Gyratory area.