Resurfacing of 11 roads postponed to help council make savings

The resurfacing of eleven Shropshire roads has been postponed as Shropshire Council works to save £62.5m in the current financial year to balance its budget.

The roads were due to be resurfaced before the end of March 2025 as part of the council’s annual resurfacing programme.

So far this year 24 roads have been resurfaced across the county with a further 12 to be treated in the coming weeks.

However, to help the council make the savings required in the current financial year, work on a further 11 roads – listed below – is now set to be carried out in the 2025/26 financial year (ie. from April 2025).

• B5067 – Prescott Road, Baschurch
• B4368 – Corvedale Road, Craven Arms
• C4246 – Mill Farm to Norton Covert
• C4174 – Station Road, Albrighton
• U3102 – Colehurst to Gorsey Lane A41 Junction, Stoke Heath
• U7268 – Richmond Gardens, Bridgnorth
• U8715 – Earls Ditton, Ditton Mill, Lower Down Junctionn
• U8349 – New Road, Cleobury Mortimer
• B5398 – High Street, Whitchurch
• U8714 – Doddington to Earls Ditton
• B4397 – Ruyton-XI-Towns

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

“It’s no secret that we have to save £62.5m in the current financial year and we’re now at a critical point to secure our future financial sustainability. We’re working hard to balance the books and we have to examine every pound we spend to prioritise services for people who need us most. In many cases we will have no choice but to reduce the level of service we offer – and this includes highways maintenance.

“We will be resurfacing 36 roads this year, but we’ve agreed that work on a further 11 can instead be carried out in the next financial year, that is after April 2025, helping us to to make savings this year.

“We have an obligation to ensure that our roads are safe for all road users and each of these 11 schemes has undergone a safety assessment and deemed to be safe for at least one more winter. If any safety issues do arise in the coming months these will be assessed and prioritised in line with the council’s procedures and repairs carried out if necessary.”

Roads that have been or will be resurfaced as part of this year’s resurfacing programme, include:

• Haughton Road, Shifnal
• Longden Road, Shrewsbury
• Colliery Road, St Martins
• Church Street, High Street and Market Square, Bishop’s Castle
• A53, Shawbury
• King Street, Oswestry
• Oswald Road, Oswestry
• A458 Welshpool Road, Shrewsbury (work to start on 14 October)
• Old Smithfield Road and Northgate, Bridgnorth
• Victoria Road, Much Wenlock
• Ashfield Road, Ditton Priors (work to start on 21 October)

A further 33 roads have also been surface dressed this year.