Roads safe, reliable and free flowing? You must be joking

What have we got today only half way through the approved development of some 1,600 houses is traffic gridlock and chaos with the worse I feel to come.

Only recently a small sinkhole appeared in the carriageway at a five-way junction caused I reckon by 40 ton HGVs pounding the roads. This has throttled the town at peak times.

Mistakes made along Coppice Green Lane have caused chaos and diversions through normally quiet country lanes and of course we have complete gridlock in the town centre in the mornings and evenings. The next fiasco I predict will be accidents along the shortest route to Telford and the motorway along the winding country lane, Haughton Road, and the carriageway needing to be improved and footways and a cycle lane provided etc, at again to a cost of the local taxpayer?

Developers and their consultants told us that development should only be prevented or refused on transport grounds where residual and cumulative impacts of development are severe. They also told us in addition that the road network should be safe, reliable and free flowing and given the number of accidents over a five-year period there is not considered to be any highway safety issues that will need to be addressed as part of the proposed development in Shifnal.

Haughton Road for some 400 metres (0.25 miles) is extremely dangerous, passing a concealed nursing home entrance, a junction with Haughton Lane and continues westwards having a narrow, bending, un-kerbed carriageway and a sub-standard footway and street lighting.

In the last five years there have been two fatal, one serious and one slight accident according to Shropshire Council’s personal injury accident data.

Now try to convince me that Shifnal’s road network is safe, reliable and free flowing. You must be joking!

Peter Hassall, Shifnal