Shropshire Council postpones resurfacing work on 11 roads to 2025/26 in bid to balance budget

Shropshire Council has announced the measures today in order to make savings of £62.5million during the current financial year to balance its budget.

The council says the 11 roads were due to be resurfaced before the end of March next year (the end of the financial year) as part of its annual resurfacing programme, however, the work will now be carried out during the 2025/26 financial year.

So far, 24 roads have been resurfaced across the county this year, with work set to begin on a further 12 in the coming weeks.

The 11 roads that have seen work postponed are:

• B5067 - Prescott Road in Baschurch

• B4368 - Corvedale Road, Craven Arms

• C4246 - Mill Farm to Norton Covert

• C4174 - Station Road, Albrighton

• U3102 - Colehurst to Gorsey Lane A41 Junction, Stoke Heath

• U7268 - Richmond Gardens, Bridgnorth

• U8715 - Earls Ditton, Ditton Mill, Lower Down Junctionn

• U8349 - New Road, Cleobury Mortimer

• B5398 - High Street, Whitchurch

• U8714 - Doddington to Earls Ditton

• B4397 - Ruyton-XI-Towns

Shropshire Council's Cabinet member for highways, Dan Morris, said: "It’s no secret that we have to save £62.5m in the current financial year and we're now at a critical point to secure our future financial sustainability.

"We're working hard to balance the books and we have to examine every pound we spend to prioritise services for people who need us most. In many cases we will have no choice but to reduce the level of service we offer - and this includes highways maintenance.

"We will be resurfacing 36 roads this year, but we've agreed that work on a further 11 can instead be carried out in the next financial year, that is after April 2025, helping us to to make savings this year.

"We have an obligation to ensure that our roads are safe for all road users and each of these 11 schemes has undergone a safety assessment and deemed to be safe for at least one more winter. If any safety issues do arise in the coming months these will be assessed and prioritised in line with the council's procedures and repairs carried out if necessary."

The council also revealed roads that have been, or will be, resurfaced as part of this year's resurfacing programme, which include:

• Haughton Road, Shifnal

• Longden Road, Shrewsbury

• Colliery Road, St Martins

• Church Street, High Street and Market Square, Bishop's Castle

• A53, Shawbury

• King Street, Oswestry

• Oswald Road, Oswestry

• A458 Welshpool Road, Shrewsbury (work to start on October 14)

• Old Smithfield Road and Northgate, Bridgnorth

• Victoria Road, Much Wenlock

• Ashfield Road, Ditton Priors (work to start on October 21)