Shropshire drivers facing 26-mile diversion for roadworks

Both the A5 at Nesscliffe and the A483 at Pant, near Oswestry, will close at night this month.

Drivers will be sent on a diversion around the north of the county and Mid Wales.

Those affected by the closure at Pant will be sent to Nesscliffe by the Highways Agency and will then be diverted through those works and via Welshpool before heading back on the A483.

Residents today said the scheme was a "disaster" and said many locals would attempt to find their way around the planned diversions by travelling down minor routes.

Chris Edwards, a 27-year-old accountant, who lives in Briggs Lane, Pant, said: "There is no doubt the closure will cause chaos for the area with the closures overnight.

"I am sure locals will know ways around the diversions and won't have to go all the way around to Welshpool before coming back on themselves, but there are thousands of people, including lorry drivers, who will have no choice but to follow the recommended route. Once again, it is a bit of a disaster in the way they plan these roadworks."

The Highways Agency is carrying out the resurfacing work on the A5 Nesscliffe Bypass and the replacement of lighting cables on the A483 at Pant.

Work began yesterday on the £70,000 scheme in Pant, with temporary daytime traffic signals in place until May 21.

But the road will be closed on May 14 and 15 from 8pm to 6am with a 26-mile diversion sending drivers up to Oswestry, along the A5 and down the A458 to Welshpool before rejoining the A483.

The A5 eastbound will also be closed overnight as part of the £480,000 resurfacing programme.

Work will start on the A5 between the Wolfshead roundabout and the Felton Butler roundabout on Monday and will include closures every night between 8pm and 6am until June 2. During the closures, traffic will be diverted through Nesscliffe village along the old A5.

Chris Kirk, spokesman for the Highways Agency, said: "On the A5 at Nesscliffe there's really nowhere else the traffic can go. The bypass was built to bypass the village, and there's nowhere else to send the traffic except for back through the village.

"With the A483 that diversion route is one that's agreed with the local authority as an emergency route in case the road has to be closed. It has to take HGVs and although it is quite a circuitous and long route, it is the safest route for larger vehicles.

"Obviously if car drivers know a shorter route they can nip through, but we wouldn't recommend going through small roads."

The southbound carriageway of a major artery through the south of Shropshire will also be closed for three nights later this month. The A49 between the B4361 and Sheet Roundabout, near Ludlow, Shropshire, will shut overnight from May 19 to 21 for resurfacing work.

Meanwhile the M54 between junction three for Albrighton to junction four for Shifnal will be shut, including the entry sliproads, overnight until May 16 between 9pm and 7am.