'Draw your own conclusions' urges transport boss amid criticism over relief road 'benefits'
A transport boss has urged people to draw their own conclusions about the Shrewsbury North West Relief road, after fresh criticism over traffic reduction claims.
Better Shrewsbury Transport has accused Shropshire Council of "selective bias" over its presentation of perceived benefits of the controversial project.
But Councillor Dan Morris, the authority's cabinet member for highways, says the traffic modelling has been validated by National Highways, and encouraged people to read the documents for themselves on the planning portal.
Emma Bullard, from the campaign group, said: "The claims about 64 per cent reduction in traffic flows in The Mount, Smithfield Road and Chester Street are highly misleading. The council’s own traffic modelling shows that the actual reductions on those streets (the main area where traffic will reduce in the short term) will be much lower (around 24 per cent compared to the do nothing scenario).
"The 64 per cent quoted presumably only refers to journeys where cars are starting at one end of this route and going all the way through. As hardly any cars do this at present, the reduction is meaningless and bears little relation to reality. What the council doesn’t want to tell residents is that, on average, the North West Relief Road (NWRR) will only reduce journey times across Shrewsbury by a few minutes at most. It’s a 'benefit' that will be rapidly eroded by induced traffic: extra journeys that will rapidly fill up any space created on the road system. Meanwhile the council stays silent about areas like Berwick Road where its own data says traffic levels will more than triple, nor the increase in congestion generated at A5 Churncote roundabout and the western end of Harlescott Road. The council is cherry-picking data and trying to pull the wool over residents’ eyes."
