Shropshire Star

Cost of Shropshire A5 dual carriageway to be assessed

Highways England has been asked to work out the cost of making a long stretch of the A5 into a dual carriageway, a Shropshire MP has revealed.

Published

Daniel Kawczynski, MP for Shrewsbury, was speaking after he joined North Shropshire MP Owen Paterson and Shropshire Council leader Keith Barrow at a meeting with Patrick McLoughlin MP, the Secretary of State for Transport, in London on Monday.

The three were urging Mr McLoughlin to make improvements to the A5, including dualling the stretch from the Wolfs Head roundabout near Nesscliffe to Chirk Bank.

Mr Kawczynski said: "We had a very constructive meeting with the secretary of State for Transport. We highlighted the number of deaths that had taken place.

"What he has done is that he has agreed to ask the Highways England for a primary costing for dualling that part of the A5. He is going to approach Highways England about the costing of it.

"Keith Barrow explained to the Secretary of State for Transport the importance of the road and stressed the need for an economic impact survey to be done on it. The dualling of the road is important from the respect of reducing the number of deaths and connecting Shrewsbury to Oswestry.

"The A5 is a very important strategic road and there is European investment funding available for these works that we are going to work together to secure."

After the meeting Mr Barrow said: "Making the A5 a dual carriageway along its entire length is crucial for both safety and economic reasons. There have been far too many serious and fatal accidents along this stretch of road in recent years, and many of these could well have been prevented

"But improvements are also crucial for the county's future prosperity."