Road closure 'gives view of pedestrianised Shrewsbury'
The closure of one of Shrewsbury's busiest roads will give people a glimpse into a potential future of a pedestrianised town centre, a council leader has claimed.
Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, said the closure of Wyle Cop for two weeks would give shoppers, traders and visitors to the town centre the chance to see whether they liked the idea of car-free streets.
Wyle Cop closed to traffic yesterday as part of work to install road humps and impose a 20mph speed limit to make the junction at the bottom of the street safer.
The road had been due to close last week but the work is running behind schedule after engineers ran into drainage problems. It may not be completed until schools break up for the summer holidays.
Plans to pedestrianise some roads in the town centre were discussed at a recent meeting of Shrewsbury Town Council, although fears have been raised over a potential increase in traffic on Town Walls.
Councillor Mosley said: "It's really great news that work is commencing on Wyle Cop and I also think it will be a really good indicator of any future plans.
"Traffic will no longer be on High Street, which should be an opportunity to see how people feel about the idea.
"I think that once work is completed on Wyle Cop it will be a really big improvement for the town as a whole so it's looking really positive."
The street is home to dozens of independent boutiques and pubs and some business owners have claimed they were not made fully aware of the closure.
Diversions are expected to be in place for the next fortnight, and Shropshire Council has apologised for any inconvenience caused.
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