Cautious welcome for £9m road plan around Shrewsbury

The Government announced yesterday that

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There will be changes along the A5 to the Emstrey Island roundabout, Churncote Island and the Edgebold roundabout under the plans.

The replacement of the A49 Preston Boat roundabout with a new traffic lights system has also been suggested.

• Star comment: Traffic lights a nightmare in waiting

Mark Bebb, managing director of Salop Leisure, which is located just off Emstrey Island, said he was particularly interested in the proposals for that roundabout.

These include realigning both A5 approaches to the island, as well as creating dedicated turning lanes and two dedicated lanes through the roundabout for traffic on the A5 in a bid to reduce congestion.

"We would be delighted with any improvement to the road network which helps customers. Assuming what they do improves it, we are supportive of that," he said.

He said Emstrey Island had to deal with very high volumes of traffic each day.

"We are talking about a huge amount of traffic at particular times of the day. The traffic is going from two lanes to three lanes," he said.

"The middle lane is quite poorly marked, so you get people floating across one or two lanes. If you don't know it, it becomes quite confusing."

But he added he was not so sure about the plans to replace the A49 Preston Boat roundabout and bring in new traffic lights.

"Not being a highways expert, I always felt that roundabouts were the fastest way to move people around," he said.

Richard Thomas, pallet force manager at haulage firm A J Maiden & Son Ltd based in Donnington Wood said he could live with short-term disruption for the long-term benefit he believed the scheme would bring.

Mr Thomas, who runs four lorries, which deliver to the Shrewsbury area, added: "Any improvements come with a cost, but you have got to deal with it for the benefit of everyone later on.

"It may cause disruption in the first place but if it improves transport times I think it will be worth it."