Temporary traffic lights switched off day after Shrewsbury bypass left gridlocked

Traffic around Shrewsbury was moving much on Thursday, a day after huge queues stretched back almost as far as Wellington.

The bypass around the county town was gridlocked on Wednesday morning after temporary traffic lights were installed at Emstrey Island. At one point, drivers were being warned of 92-minute delays.

However, 24 hours later the lights - although still in place at the roundabout - were not operating.

One driver said: "Traffic was completely normal but they had stopped using the temporary lights at the junction so it was back to how it was before yesterday. No tailbacks at all."

National Highways experts visited the giant Emstrey roundabout yesterday, before admitting that the changes had caused the jams along large stretches of the town's bypass.

Richard Timothy, National Highways Route Manager, said: “We know that the changes to the road layout have caused significant delays today and we appreciate how frustrating that can be for drivers.

“Changes will always cause some delays as drivers familiarise themselves with the new layout. But we are on site today to see if any alterations can be made to ease traffic flow such as adjusting the signal timings.

“Hopefully we will quickly see some improvement but we will continue to monitor the situation and do all we can to help keep traffic moving safely.”

As well as the lights, the two lanes for traffic turning right towards Shrewsbury town centre off the westbound carriageway of the A5 at Emstrey have also been coned off.

This morning the AA Traffic News map reported much shorter delays on the approaches to both the roundabouts at Emstrey and Preston.

Some of the traffic lights in Emstrey were knocked out of action last month when a car demolished boxes that control them. Drivers have been warned the temporary lights will remain in place for several weeks until the repairs on the main signals can be carried out, with chiefs warning they haven't been able to get the spare parts to repair the signals.

A route manager for National Highways, based in Birmingham, said safety was their number one priority which lead them to install temporary traffic lights.

Mr Timothy said: “We understand people are concerned about the loss of some traffic lights on the roundabout following the recent road traffic collision.

"Safety is always our number one priority and we want people to feel safe on our roads, so we have now installed temporary signals.

“Unfortunately the three control boxes which manage traffic lights on half of the roundabout were totally destroyed in the collision. Bespoke parts are needed to rebuild those boxes and will take a few more weeks to arrive.

“In the meantime, the temporary lights, additional traffic management and extra signs will help to maintain safety at the roundabout though we appreciate there will be some delays for drivers. We would urge drivers to continue to take extra care when using the junction and allow more time for journeys."

The three control boxes controlled the lights on the eastbound carriageway of the A5. Last month's crash - which destroyed them and led to an oil leak, contaminating the site - was the second time in less than a year that those signals have been damaged after a car crashed into them in December 2021, before landing in the middle of the island.

National Highways has said the control boxes, which manage traffic lights on half of the junction, need to be moved which will involve design work and surveys to ensure other utilities are avoided.

The agency has recently commissioned a study to investigate a number of road traffic collisions on the eastbound approach to this roundabout and whether action could be taken to help prevent further incidents.