Warning of further disruption with next phase of works outside Shrewsbury Railway Station to begin next week
Residents and businesses have been warned of further disruption in Shrewsbury with the next phase of works outside the railway station to begin next week.
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Work to construct new cycleways on Castle Foregate from New Park Road through to Windsor Place on Castle Gates will begin on May 12, Shropshire Council has announced.
The works will create widened footways to accommodate both pedestrians and cyclists while the lane in front of the railway station will be converted into a two-way segregated cycleway.
Furthermore, between May 12 and June 6, National Grid will install high-voltage cabling within the public highway via a route between their substation at Preston Street and the substation located under The Darwin Centre on Raven Meadows.
The power company plans to lay a section of the cable between Howard Street and Meadow Place and along Castle Foregate/Castle Gates to connect up to the substation on Raven Meadows.
A lane closure on Castle Foregate will be enforced for the duration of the works while temporary traffic lights will also be installed.
The county council has agreed that National Grid can carry out this work in advance of its wider programme to "avoid further disruption in future", and to ensure the work is completed ahead of the council's planned resurfacing works on Castle Foregate/Castle Gates at the end of the station gyratory improvements.
New cycleways
Works at New Park Road will include a widened footway, a new controlled crossing linking into the old canal path, and will then proceed southbound on Castle Foregate on the eastern footway that the council says will be widened to accommodate pedestrians and cyclists within a shared facility.
The original proposal for the cycleway that was part of a consultation on the whole project in 2024 would have seen the loss of street parking along Castle Foregate, between Cross Street and New Park Road.
However, a revised route has been considered and chosen to provide a "safer environment" for cyclists through a shared facility that is off the main road and means that parking can be maintained on Castle Foregate.
The cycleway will move from the footway onto the road - ahead of the Howard Street/Cross Street junction - and continue along Castle Foregate, in front of the railway station.
The council says that the near side lane in front of the station will be converted to a two-way segregated cycleway.
Towards the end of the station gyratory work, the two-way segregated cycleway will be extended beyond the Smithfield Road junction - along Castle Gates/Castle Street to Windsor Place. The section will be subject to a Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) and will convert the existing bus lane for use by cyclists.
Shropshire Council said its contractor McPhillips will ensure that access to premises will be "available at all times," and a temporary walkway will be created on the eastern side of the road between New Park Road and the Howard Street junction.
The authority added that a temporary suspension of the parking bays on the western side of the road between the Cross Street junction and New Park Road will be required from May 19. It said that "every effort" will be made to free up parking as the works progress.
High-voltage cabling
National Grid has secured funding for the major cable reinforcement scheme in Shrewsbury that is part of a programme to improve its electricity distribution network.
Shropshire Council said the works will allow the company to complete the necessary trenching work and installation of their new apparatus to "avoid future disruption and inconvenience" to the general public and local businesses.
During the works, a lane will be closed on Castle Foregate. Temporary traffic lights will also be erected on Castle Foregate at the junction with Howard Street and Cross Street from May 12 to 22.
Meanwhile, from May 27 to 30, a further set of temporary traffic lights will be erected on Castle Foregate at the junction with Smithfield Road. This phase of the works will be undertaken overnight between 7pm and 7am, and the permanent traffic signals will be switched back on each morning at 7am to "minimise disruption".
For the final phase of the works, Meadow Place will be closed from June 2 to 6. A signed diversion will be in place, with access maintained to businesses and to residential properties.
The county council said residents and affected businesses will be notified of the works, and advance warning signs will be erected on-site two weeks prior to the scheme commencing.
