Oswestry bus routes changed to avoid roadworks
Buses journeys have been re-routed because of long delays caused by temporary roadworks on the main route into a town.
Temporary traffic lights at the Salop Road and Victoria Road junction, in Oswestry, which have been put up as part of infrastructure work in preparation for the opening of a Lidl supermarket, have caused long tailbacks.
Drivers heading into town have been particularly badly affected, and officials at bus company Tanat Valley said it became impossible to continue to run the town centre service as it was timetabled. The new route has left some not able to catch the bus at their usual stop and others having to get used to different arrival times.
Nick Culliford, operations manager at Tanat Valley, said: "The hold-ups are ridiculous. The town service runs on a 30-minute cycle and we give ourselves a five minute leeway for hold-ups. But the drivers have been waiting in queues to get through the roadworks for up to 20 minutes.
"We have had to apply to have the service temporarily re-routed. The buses now miss out the section of route where the traffic lights are. We apologise to our passengers on the section of road that we won't be servicing while the temporary traffic lights are in place but we simply could not keep the service running unless we made changes." Earlier this week fellow bus firm Arriva apologised for hold-ups on its Oswestry to Shrewsbury route through Nesscliffe, stating problems were due to severe roadworks in Oswestry.
Simon Jones, Shropshire Council's cabinet member for highways and transport, said "A number of essential works are currently taking place within the Oswestry area, and Shropshire Council is doing all it can to minimise disruption and inconvenience caused by these works, through careful planning and programming, and through close liaison with developers and utilities companies.
He said that the construction of the junction at Victoria Road/Shrewsbury Road had been "accelerated" so that works are completed in time for the Lidl opening on February 23.
He said: "Scottish Power is currently diverting the electricity cables at Shrewsbury Road and Victoria Road to allow for Section 278 works for the new Lidl. This work is taking place under multi-way signals and the lights are being manually controlled between 7.30am and 6.30pm.
"Regular inspections are being carried out by the council's streetworks team to confirm that this is being carried out."
