Shrewsbury A5 delays due to 'collapsed lid' on underground BT box
The mystery surrounding temporary traffic lights that caused delays for days on the A5 north of Shrewsbury was revealed to be a collapsed lid on an underground BT box.
Disgruntled motorists faced delays when the lights appeared between the Montford Bridge turning and Felton Butler roundabout, on Tuesday.
Highways England said it believed the work to be due to a "collapsed manhole cover", and that Severn Trent Water may be conducting repairs.
But a spokeswoman from Severn Trent Water said the company was not working in the area and suggested it could be BT-related work.
BT contacted its subsidiary company, Openreach, which confirmed the traffic lights were due to a collapsed lid on an underground box.
A spokesman from Openreach said: "We’re sorry for the disruption here, but we’re urgently repairing one of our underground boxes that has become unsafe. Our engineers are hoping to get the work done as quickly as possible.”
Commuters said the disruption had been cleared by Thursday afternoon.
In the height of the delays, one irate driver said they could not see any engineers conducting repairs and that they were almost late for work.
Meanwhile, Highways England has announced there is ongoing work on the nearby Nesscliffe bypass which begun on May 17 and will last four weeks.
The work, being carried out to replace street lighting, is taking place between 9pm and 6am the following day.
