Bid to make A529 near Market Drayton safer is welcomed

Councillor Matt Erwin, mayor of Market Drayton, has welcomed Shropshire Council's £3.8 million bid to make the A529 safer.

The unitary authority has confirmed it will bid for Government funding for the road, which runs between Hinstock and Audlem.

The road, which has been notorious for several serious accidents in recent years, has been recognised as one of the 50 roads with the worst safety record in Britain.

Councillor Erwin said: "I regularly attend meetings of The Road Safety Group and for a long time one of their main concerns has been the A529, a road that runs from Hinstock to Audlem and is a nationally known accident blackspot.

"They, as I, will be pleased to hear that improvement funds are available and hopefully Shropshire Councils bid for almost £4 million will be successful."

Some of the improvements already suggested to make the road safer have included installing new signage and barriers as well as making the road wider.

"A recent suggestion from a fellow member would be a new pedestrian crossing at the Newport Road car park. Whatever improvements are made, if they save only one life, it will be money well spent," Councillor Erwin added.

Shropshire Council said improvement work would be phased over a two to three year period on a 12-mile stretch of the road.

Last year, a 23-year-old man died when the car he was a passenger in left the A529 and went down an embankment.

In 2015, a 80-year-old woman died following a two-vehicle crash on the A529 at the Sweet Appletree crossroads, near Hinstock.

Hinstock Parish Council described the stretch of road near the village as an "accident blackspot" and said it was hoping to put forward recommendations to Shropshire Council to make it safer.

Andy Wilde, Shropshire Council’s highways programme manager, said: “In 2017 the Department for Transport produced the 'Funding for Local Transport: The Safer Roads Document'.

"This formally identified the following two sections of the A529 in Shropshire within the top 50 roads in the country with the highest ‘risk’ of being killed or seriously injured.

"The bid, which will be in the region of £3.8million, is required to be submitted by September 30.

“If Shropshire Council is successful in its funding bid, the work is likely to be phased over a two to three year period, following a formal consultation process."