Urgent repairs bring road chaos to Shrewsbury town centre

Motorists complained of 25-minute hold-ups in the town as workmen dug up roads in the rush hour.

Many took to social media to express their anger as delays continued for the rest of Wednesday morning.

The town's mayor Councillor Miles Kenny described the situation as "dire".

The problem was caused by repairs to a valve in a hydrant in Wyle Cop. Traffic lights were set up, which led to long queues building up on several roads.

Severn Trent Water apologised for the problems and was last night sending more workmen to the scene to fully resolve the issue.

Roadworks are also being carried out on Abbey Foregate, Oteley Road and Roman Road, adding to congestion problems around the town.

Councillor Kenny said: "It is beginning to be an irritation and a nuisance. I came by bike to a meeting and it was a doddle but it was dire really for drivers. We should not be gridlocked, it shouldn't be like this at all.

"New Street at 8.30am was very bad. It is all to do with the water works, I believe.

Congestion built up in both directions along the Old Potts Way, Castle Street, Castle Foregate and Beeches Lane because of the severe delays on Wyle Cop in the roadworks area.

It led to problems on London Road between Emstrey and Column roundabouts as well as delays over the English Bridge and around Abbey Foregate. Drivers on Smithfield Road and Coton Hill were also delayed, along with motorists on The Mount at Frankwell island.

Arriva Midlands West took to Twitter to warn its users of problems after its buses got stuck in the hold-ups.

It said: "Due to roadworks taking place on Monkmoor Road and the Wyle Cop we are experiencing severe delays to most of our services that side of town, this includes the Park and Ride Services. We apologise for any inconvenience caused and will try and keep you updated."

The delays on Wyle Cop came from Severn Trent roadworks.

The traffic lights were removed by noon and traffic slowly began to ease around town but roadworks remain in place along Oteley Road, Roman Road and Abbey Foregate.

Councillor Kenny said it highlighted the need for a review of the town's road and Shropshire Council's Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package.

The £12 million scheme to revamp the town's roads includes proposals to improve the appearance of Pride Hill, The Square and Mardol, as well as changes to major junctions and traffic systems, intended to reduce congestion throughout the town.

The plans were out for consultation in March and members of the public were invited to put forward their views.

Councillor Kenny said: "The consultation for the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package is complete but it does indicate that we have to be serious about traffic users in the town and the need to use different forms of transport.

"I would say that the package does have very little linkage to the southern urban extension areas.

"Also, it is very clear in the Shrewsbury Vision that we should be encouraging more people to take alternative transport to a car."

Rebecca Murphy, spokeswoman for Severn Trent said: "We were called out to repair a fire hydrant valve in Wyle Cop in Shrewsbury. We managed to carry out the repairs and temporarily resurfaced the road so that the traffic can flow normally during rush hour. We'd like to apologise to anybody affected by the emergency work we had to carry out and the inconvenience it may have caused. We'll be returning later on tonight to permanently resurface the road and get everything back to normal as quickly as possible."