Shrewsbury rat run closure plan to improve safety

Racecourse Lane has long been used as a cut through from Bicton to Copthorne Road and has a medical practice, a primary school and a number of houses along it.

Shropshire Council wants to the close the road at its junction with Lambourn Drive in a bid to improve safety and reduce traffic.

But staff at Oxon Primary School and local residents say the closure would actually lead to an increase in traffic congestion and safety issues around the school and the northern end of Racecourse Lane.

Objectors also claim that a consultation period, which was held earlier this year, was misleading. They additionally say that the closure would lead to longer journey times and to an increase in turning traffic, parking and general traffic in Lambourn Drive.

Better pedestrian routes would also be required including a new link from the former Shelton Hospital site which is currently being developed by Shropshire Homes, they say.

Richard Ayton, project from manager for Shropshire Council, said 65 per cent of people living in the area support the closure. : "The question of whether to close Racecourse Lane has been ongoing for several decades.

"A letter drop was made to approximately 260 local properties. A total of 206 responses were received of which 117 were from people who live or work off Racecourse Lane. Of those 65 per cent supported the closure. There were 57 objections from people who do not live or work on Racecourse Lane and who are potentially using the lane as a short-cut.

"The number of objections received was 13 of which three came from the same household and one from Oxon Primary School. There are approximately 260 properties with direct access to the land. The number of households that objected was only 10 out of 260 which is 3.85 per cent.

"This demonstrates strong support for the scheme. Concerns raised relating to the inconvenience arising from increased journey times are considered insignificant. Racecourse Lane was never intended or designed to be a local distributor road.

"There have been three slight injury accidents recorded on the lane over the last five years and according to residents there have been a number of cats and dogs killed over this time."

A traffic survey was undertaken earlier this year and confirmed residents' perceptions that traffic flows have increased by 12.8 per cent from 2009 to 2016. The plans will be considered by councillors at the next meeting of Shropshire Council's Central Planning Committe which takes place at Shirehall on Thursday.