New route for buses and taxis as Telford Town Centre road revamp under way
Taxi and bus drivers in Telford face a new route around the town centre from today as the latest phase of development got under way.
The short link road which allows buses and taxis to avoid the one-way system around Telford Shopping Centre has been closed as part of the £12 million project to make the ring road two-way. Over the next year, sections of the Box Road will be closed in turn while the work takes place.
Telford & Wrekin Council's transport and highways manager Keith Harris said: "If people think this is going to stop them coming into Telford, that's not the case.
"We will continuously monitor what the effect is of this work."
The aim of the project is to allow pedestrians and cyclists to get across the road more easily and to link the shopping centre with the £250 million leisure and entertainment development taking shape in Southwater.
The scheme will involve central reservations and crossings being constructed and it is aimed at encouraging people to use the town centre while discouraging through traffic from using the Box Road around the centre.
Work is also going on to improve the Malinsgate roundabout before the new Asda store opens next month and the Highways Agency is increasing capacity at the Forge roundabout at junction five of the M54.
The closing of the bus gate today from Malinsgate onto Coach Central is to make way for a new roundabout.
Woodhouse Central will be the next stretch of the road to be developed and made two way with another new roundabout being constructed near the Odeon Cinema at Lawn Central.
A spokesman for Telford & Wrekin Council, Russell Griffin, said: "The bus gate will be closed to enable the start of building of the new roundabout, part of making the Box Road two way."
