Four-week closure for Shrewsbury town centre roads

The essential work is being carried out in High Street between The Square and the junction with Market Street.

It means Wyle Cop will also be shut because of the way the town's one-way system operates.

The roadworks are expect to start on May 13 and finish on June 7.

However, the scheme relies on Shropshire Council completing four and a half months of roadworks on Claremont Bank and Town Walls as part of the Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Plan.

Traffic will need to be diverted along Town Walls while the town centre roads are closed.

The county has been subjected to back-to-back roadworks over the last year, with work also currently ongoing on Pride Hill.

Shrewsbury BID has revealed it has plans to utilise High Street while it is closed to traffic and still drive footfall into the town.

Executive director Seb Slater said: “In February last year when the road was closed we offered the ‘Wild Cop Safari’ as part of the DarwIN Shrewsbury Festival which was very well received and contributed to good footfall statistics during that period.

“People really enjoyed the animals and the social media activity and TV coverage was fantastic for Shrewsbury.

“We have some exciting plans in development for activities to be held during next month’s road closure to ensure visitors continue to visit and enjoy our town centre. We will be announcing what these activities will be soon. Watch this space.”

Councillor Simon Harris, Shropshire Council's deputy portfolio holder for highways and transport, is also exploring the possibility of trialling driverless vehicles on Wyle Cop during the closure.

The authority has been working with Westfield Technology Group, which has designed and produced a self-driving 'pod' vehicle which uses sensors to detect road conditions and obstacles.

Councillor Harris hopes to trial the autonomous vehicles on the famous street for two weeks, transporting people from St Julian's Friars car park to The Square.