Emergency closure of Water Lane in Shrewsbury

Part of Water Lane in Shrewsbury was closed yesterday morning (Wednesday 9 May 2012) on an emergency basis after significant cracking was discovered in both the lane and the riverside wall which retains it. 

The decision to temporarily close the lane has been taken in the interest of safety as engineers cannot rule out the possibility of this part of the riverside wall collapsing. 

Now that the lane has been closed, pedestrians are being diverted via New Street and Frankwell.  

At present it is too early for it to be possible to give a meaningful indication of how long the lane will need to remain closed for.  Before this can be done, investigation work will need to be undertaken to confirm the extent of the problem and the wall’s construction details. 

Yesterday afternoon, a diving inspection of the submerged parts of the wall was carried out by a specialist contractor.  That revealed that floodwater has scoured a number of sizeable holes in the wall below river level. 

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for this work, said:

“It is appreciated that the closure of the lane will cause some inconvenience, and all involved will do all that they reasonably can to keep the closure period to a minimum.” 

During the closure of Porthill Bridge, cyclists were being diverted via Water Lane.  They are now being diverted via New Road and Frankwell.