Calls to upgrade Shropshire's 'dangerous' A5
Turning the A5 into a dual carriageway should be included in the Government's blueprint for major roads projects, a Shropshire MP has said.
Owen Paterson described the current 20-mile single carriageway stretch between Shrewsbury and the north Wales border as "wholly inadequate" and "dangerous".
He made the call for the route to be widened after details of a meeting with a Government minister were confirmed.
Andrew Jones, of the Department of Transport, will meet North Shropshire MP Mr Paterson at the British Ironwork Centre on the outskirts of Oswestry on May 27.
The visit will include an inspection of part of the road.
Mr Paterson hopes that the talks will persuade the minister that the road north of Shrewsbury should be made a dual carriageway and will also press for a bypass for Llanymynech and Pant on the A483.
Mr Paterson has previously said the A5 has two of the most dangerous junctions in Shropshire – at Shotatton crossroads and Queens Head, near Oswestry.
The A5 is a dual carriageway from the end of the M54 at Wellington to Montford Bridge. It then becomes single lane, except for the Nesscliffe bypass, for the rest of its route through Shropshire until it joins the A483.
Mr Paterson said: "The A5 needs to be a dual carriageway.
"I'm hoping to get it in a strategic road plan and then the work will be done in stages."
