WORK on a £600,000 Bridgnorth town centre traffic package is set to start on Monday with motorists being warned that there will be periodical road closures until mid-November.
This first phase of the improvements is expected to take three to four weeks and will concentrate on a stretch between the relief road and Northgate arch.
This will involve reinstating the bus stop from outside Lloyds Bank to its ‘historical’ location outside the Bear Inn and relaxing parking restrictions between the Cliff Road and Moat Street junctions to provide an additional parking space.
Contractors from McPhillips (Wellington) Ltd will then move to the High Street section from Northgate arch to the Whitburn Street junction for three to four weeks.
This will include providing four parking bays – one of which is being moved from the top of Whitburn Street because of congestion problems. A loading bay will be set up on the northern side of High Street.
The final phase of the work will centre on Whitburn Street and will be finished by mid-November, in time for the busy Christmas period.
Here there will be widened, blue brick pavier pavements with conservation kerbs and a new road surface. The road will remain one way. Improvements will also be carried out to surface water drainage.
“The enhancement works in Whitburn Street will greatly improve the shopping environment for local people and visitors alike,” said Christian Lea, Shropshire Councillor for the Bridgnorth East and Astley Abbotts ward.
“Residents have for a long time been calling for the pavements to be widened, which will particularly be to the benefit to parents of young children in pushchairs and the elderly.
“The provision of additional parking bays outside the former doctors’ surgery is to be welcomed too,” he added.
* The A442 Telford road between Sutton Maddock and Bridgnorth will be closed to through traffic during the week starting September 3, to allow work to be carried out on High Rock as part of Apley Estates’ ongoing commitment to public safety. Diversion routes will be signposted.