Shrewsbury's Pride Hill to get a facelift lasting 10 months next year

Pride Hill is to be resurfaced from top-to-bottom as part of the Shropshire Council plan, which will mark Shrewsbury's biggest town-centre facelift for decades.

The scheme, which is part of the £12 million Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package, will see Pride Hill resurfaced with yorkstone and granite.

Part of the way the street is re-paved with see tighter bands of two-tone paving to "emphasise key access points" such as Pride Hill, the Darwin Centre and Butcher Row.

New benches will also be added to the street at several locations.

The council says it will use "high quality materials to reinforce the character of the street" and will replace "existing street furniture to reflect the proposed high quality finish".

The work is anticipated to begin in January and to take until October to finish. Shropshire Council is set to open up the contract for the work to bidders in the coming weeks.

Under the town-centre plans a 20mph zone will also be extended and will include Smithfield Road and the approach to the Frankwell Roundabout.

Steve Davenport, Shropshire Council’s cabinet member for highways and transport, said the street's vital role in the town economy makes it priority project.

He said: “Under the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package (SITP), once the key junction improvements are completed, a programme of enhancement work is set to begin in Shrewsbury town centre early next year.

“This work aims to make a positive and consistent change to the quality of the public realm within Shrewsbury town centre.

"Improvements will be made in a number of locations but, as the primary shopping street in the town centre, the physical upgrading of Pride Hill – which will include resurfacing, new street furniture and other improvements - is key to this enhancement work.

“The overall SITP package will provide a wide range of economic benefits for Shrewsbury and a real boost to the town centre economy. This important and beneficial work is also being carried out at no cost to Shropshire Council, so is a great example of how Shrewsbury and Shropshire can attract and benefit from external funding.”

A consultation on the plans asked people whether Pride Hill should be more distinct than other town centre areas, but met with a mixed response.

The results showed that 40 per cent of those responding believed that Pride Hill should be made more distinctive than other public realm areas in the town centre, with 31 per cent disagreeing.