Shrewsbury’s £100 million North West Relief Road is being scrapped - to the joy of environmentalists but dismay of town business leaders.
In a report to Shropshire Council’s cabinet which meets next week, Andy Goldsmith, the assistant director of public protection, states: “As there is very little prospect of securing sufficient funding for the NWRR in the short to medium term it is recommended that no further work should be undertaken.”
Instead Mr Goldsmith recommends that a ‘more affordable’ package of transport measures is pursued to deal with Shrewsbury’s ongoing traffic problems. Measures in the £30million strategy would include improving the capacity of alternative routes into the town, a parking strategy to maximise park and ride opportunities, improvements to sustainable travel, and a gradual reduction in traffic within the river loop over a period of 10-15 years.
The report states that following the new government’s Comprehensive Spending Review the Department for Transport has made it clear there will be no major scheme investment for the county within this parliament’s lifetime.
“In the current financial climate there is no scope of funding for the Shrewsbury North West Relief Road before 2015; and the prospects of obtaining the scale of funding required for the new road in the medium term also appear to be limited,” writes Mr Goldsmith.
Councillors are being asked to approve work on the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Strategy (SITS) to deal with public disatisfaction at Shrewsbury’s traffic problems.The report states that Shropshire Council is well advanced with the work on developing SITS that will form a coherent and affordable bid for government funding.
Selby Martin, chairman of the Council for the Protection of Rural England, said he was ‘delighted’ at the news.
Councillor Alan Mosley, leader of the Labour group, said he welcomed an integrated approach to transport in Shrewsbury.
“It was never clear what the overall impact of the NWRR would be on traffic in Shrewsbury. There may have been some benefits but also significant environmental impacts that had to be addressed.
“An integrated transport strategy for Shrewsbury would seem to be the way forward to improve traffic, improve facilities for cyclists and pedestrians and make improvements to road junctions and signage.”
But Simon Airey, president of Shrewsbury Business Chamber, said he was ‘hugely disappointed’.“Integrated transport plans are all well and good but only the NWRR would stop unnecessary cross-town traffic, I don’t see how an integrated transport strategy would make any difference to that.
“There will still be massive congestion from Coton Hill, Ellesmere Road, and it seems very short-sighted.”
He said it would also impact heavily on lorries and other heavy vehicles which access business parks in north Shrewsbury.
The cabinet meeting is being held on Wednesday, January 19.
by Anna Williams