More delays with Oswestry A5 roadworks

Work will begin on the busy Mile End Roundabout, where the A5 merges with the A483, on Monday.

While tonight sees the start of a fortnight of overnight closures on part of the Gledrid roundabout on the same trunk road at Chirk.

Motorists have been beset by road closures and traffic managed on the Oswestry bypass for the last three months, primarily on the junction of the A483 with the industrial estate and Maesbury road.

The work is part of a £9.3 million scheme to improve transport links to allow new homes to be built.

However the Maesbury road work to put traffic lights on the staggered junction has, local businesses say, affected their finances.

Residents of the village of Morda say their local roads have taken the brunt of drivers seeking alternative ways through the roadworks.

That work and the new work at Mile End, to widen the approach from the north, is due to end on July 20, before the start of the summer holidays which heralds a rush to the Welsh coast along the Shropshire roads.

Tony Bacon from Highways England, said: "Works on Mile End roundabout start on Monday and will involve overnight traffic management. During the day the traffic management will be removed. The traffic management for A483 will continue during the day until July 20 when the scheme is due to end."

He said the Mile End work was also due to finish on July 20.

Highways England has also published an order for work five miles north on the Gledrid Roundabout.

Workmen will be carrying out routine maintenance and resurfacing on the roundabout between the turnings for Weston Rhyn and Chirk.

There will be a 24-hour speed restriction on the roads leading to the traffic island and and overnight closure between 8pm and 6pm.

Work on the Oswestry bypass has been funded by the Government's new housing financial pot.

The Western Shropshire Interchange Improvements – Unlocking the Marches Gateway for Housing & Employment Growth – will allow Oswestry's southern urban extension to go ahead, with about 750 houses planned.

Whittington roundabout will also be improved and a new roundabout on the Shrewsbury Road going into Oswestry, will be built to provide an access into the new developments.

There will also be a footbridge built from the housing land over the Oswestry bypass on to land designated to become an employment park.