Shrewsbury town centre road closures extended for Platinum Jubilee weekend

The Shrewsbury measures will see the current weekend closures extended to include the bank holidays on Thursday and Friday, June 2 and 3.

Since November 20 last year Wyle Cop – uphill, High Street and Shoplatch in the town have been closed to through-traffic from 10am to 4pm on Saturdays and Sundays.

Now the closures will be in place for the four days of the Jubilee weekend – June 2-5 – to encourage people to visit the town and enjoy what promises to be a "celebratory atmosphere".

Richard Marshall, Shropshire Council’s deputy Cabinet member for highways, said: “The weekend closure has been well received by all with shoppers, visitors and businesses telling us how welcome it is. We’ve also seen for ourselves what a positive difference it makes to the town centre at weekends and I’m very pleased that we can extend it to cover to include the two Jubilee bank holidays.

“Shrewsbury continues to do well as we emerge from the pandemic, and we hope this extended closure will encourage people to visit, support and enjoy the town over the Jubilee weekend.”

Emma Molyneux from Shrewsbury BID said: “We are hoping for a lovely celebratory atmosphere in Shrewsbury over the special bank holiday weekend. Lots of businesses are getting involved with jubilee-themed window displays and events, and will be creating a relaxation and picnic space in the Square and St Alkmund’s Churchyard with live musicians performing over the weekend to add to the atmosphere.”

Alan Mosley, Leader of Shrewsbury Town Council, said: “I’m delighted that the street closures have been extended and I’m sure that the move will encourage many people to come into the town and stay longer.

“The partial pedestrianisation of the Wyle Cop, High Street, Shoplatch, etc has been a success story and been very well received by residents, visitors and businesses alike. it is without doubt a major contributor the our post-pandemic recovery. I hope we can learn from the experience when developing traffic management schemes in future.”

All Shrewsbury town centre car parks will remain open at all times during the closure, with free parking available on Sundays and bank holidays in Abbey Foregate and Frankwell.

Disabled parking remains available at all times on Castle Street, St Mary’s Street, Dogpole, Roushill and Beeches Lane – and in the five additional disabled parking bays introduced 24/7 as part of the trial closure – three in Princess Street and two in Claremont Street.

Shropshire Council said that during the closures through-traffic should avoid using Town Walls and instead use the inner bypass via Old Potts Way to reach their destination, helping to protect the "historic part of the town".

The current weekend closures are to remain in place until at least October 2022.