Notorious Oswestry junction to be given major safety upgrade

Traffic lights and filter lanes will be installed at the Maesbury Road staggered junction on the Welshpool road to the south of the town.

The busy crossroads connects Oswestry's industrial estate with the A483 and onto the A5. It also takes traffic from the town centre onto the Maesbury Road and onto the villages of Knockin and Kinnerley.

Drivers have died in tragic crashes at the junction and there have been scores of other accidents that have left people injured and caused major tailbacks on the two trunk roads.

Councillor Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council's portfolio holder for Highways and Transport, said he was delighted that the improvements were being made.

"We hope to see the work starting mid year," he said.

"Improvements have been needed to the Maesbury Road junction for many years. There is a lot of heavy goods traffic that turns out of and into the industrial estate and a staggered junction is not the best option."

"The A483 is a major aerial route connecting north and south Wales with a small section running through Shropshire. We have been working with Highways England to bring about these safety improvements."

Councillor Davenport also revealed that changes are to be made to the nearby, Mile End roundabout .

He said he was pleased there had been a rethink over the layout of the traffic island.

It was reconfigured three years ago at a cost of £4 million to meet current design and safety standards.

"Since it was rebuilt we have had a lot of complaints from drivers about the layout," he said.

When the island was reconstructed it meant six months of roadworks for drivers as approach roads were widened and extra lanes added. A new access road was also built to a planned business park for the town.

Four months after it re-opened the Highways Agency carried out what it called 'tweaks' to the roundabout closing it overnight for two weeks.

The Highways Agency said the changes were make after driver behaviour – how drivers use the roads – was analysed at the roundabout.

The timetable for both improvement projects has not yet been published.