Motorist misery as six months of roundabout roadworks near Oswestry begin
Six months of roadworks which will cause a major road to be closed overnight will cause hold-ups and congestion in a town.
Fears have been raised that works to the busy Gledrid roundabout at Chirk, near Oswestry, that start tomorrow will cause chaos for residents.
Highways England will begin the £700,000 improvement scheme, with roads approaching the roundabout affected between 9pm and 6am from tomorrow through to June 2 for works to be carried out on the roundabout and nearby roads.
Diversions will see traffic travelling through the villages of Gobowen and St Martins, or through Chirk, and during times when the exit to Weston Rhyn is closed, traffic will instead have to travel through the narrow B road through Chirk Bank and Station Road.
Councillor Terry Evans, who represents Chirk South on Wrexham Council, said hold-ups would be "inevitable" during the course of the works.
He said: "These roadworks will cause problems whatever happens, that's inevitable, and the regular congestion outside of Kronospan won't help things.
"I just hope while the works are being carried out, they do their best to minimise any disruption.
"Improvements are definitely needed, there's no doubt about that and I've been calling for them for a long time, I just hope it doesn't cause many problems on our roads."
When news of the works were first revealed, Councillor Ian Roberts, who represents Chirk North on Wrexham Council, said he feared what effect the disruption would have on Chirk.
He said: "A lot of work does need to be done on the A483 to improve safety but I am worried, especially when that disruption will affect Chirk and if I'm being truthful I'm not entirely confident the works will actually help the piece of road where the problems are."
Highways England have insisted the improvement works will benefit road users, by cutting delays and reducing the number of collisions.
The scheme will involve widening of the A5 to the north and southbound approaches, widening to the A5 northbound exit, carriageway resurfacing, footway construction, removal and replacement of the existing signing and lining, removal and installation of lighting columns, as well as drainage and vegetation clearance.
