Completion of work to Shrewsbury railway bridges delayed again until 2027

The end point of maintenance work on two Shrewsbury town centre railway bridges has been pushed back again, with the project set to continue into the New Year.

Work on the Castle Foregate and Great Western railway bridges - between Star BBQ Kebab and The Shrewsbury Ark - will carry on until January 2027, Shropshire Council has confirmed.

The work, which started in May, was originally meant to be finished in September, but was delayed until this month.

AmcoGiffen is carrying out the maintenance work on behalf of Network Rail.

The contractors are cleaning, repairing and repainting the bridge structures, as well as ‘pigeon-proofing’ them.

Shropshire Council has said workmen have identified “defects” in the steel structures that need further attention.

A council spokesperson said: “During the course of the ongoing repairs, further investigations have identified additional steelwork defects that require remedial works before the scheme can be fully completed.

“These repairs are necessary to ensure the long-term structural integrity of the bridges and have resulted in a further extension to the programme.”

It has been confirmed that bridges will remain open to vehicular traffic during daytime hours.

But to allow the contractors to safely undertake the additional repairs and complete the remaining phases, temporary road closures will continue to be required on Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street.

Bridge access will only be available during times when there are no train movements.

Contractors will also work to make the much-needed repairs to the bridge between 12.30am and 7am on Sunday mornings moving forward - road closures will be in force until the end of November.

In December, temporary overnight traffic lights will be in place between 8pm and 6am beneath the structure.