I’m confused about MP’s comments on upgrading A5

In the Shropshire Star of August 14 he is quoted as saying, “Foreign companies will invest in areas on the motorway network, so it is essential to achieve this upgrade.” But any business wishing to locate to Shrewsbury can look at a map and see that from the M6 you can use the M54, although Junction 10a is a restricted junction. The M54 runs just west of Telford but it carries on as a dual carriageway all the way to the outskirts of Shrewsbury with no roundabouts or other roads joining it. Maybe Mr Kawczynski could use his political muscle to get Junction 10a of the M6 ungraded, now that could be a help. I know that a host of slower vehicles, powered and unpowered can use a dual carriageway and there would be a hard shoulder, but come on, is that going to stop a company relocating to Shrewsbury? Getting to the outskirts of the town is fine, getting into the town is another matter.

Politicians are always looking for the expensive big fix, the big project. Would it not be more feasible to fix what we already have and make it work to its full potential? Such as where possible making junctions that join a main road wider to take two queues of traffic, creating as many central waiting areas on single track main roads for vehicles turning right and slip lanes for traffic wanting to turn left so that the main traffic can keep flowing. To upgrade that part of the A5 looks like an expensive political gesture that would require a lot of public funds, our money.

HS2 is just the same. It would take a lot of work to fix the current rail network, especially as so much has been privatised, and it would not garner headlines for the politicians involved within their possible five-year term of office. So ignore that and build HS2. Plenty of headlines and by the time it has been built and goes belly-up, years behind schedule and over budget the politicians involved will be long gone and retired in a house well away from the proposed route.

Peter Steggles, Longnor