'Dangerous' changes to Telford roundabout designed to cut back on queueing

The lane layout at Ketley Brook Roundabout has been altered in an attempt to distribute traffic going to Ketley or towards the M54 more evenly.

Under the changes, traffic going to Wellington from the M54 will sit in the inside lane, while traffic going towards Ketley will sit in the second lane. The second lane used to act as a filter towards Princess Royal Hospital.

In the long term, it is hoped the alteration will cut back on queueing on the roundabout.

But motorists are already complaining about the confusion the changes have caused, and the potentially dangerous things people are doing when they realise they are in the wrong lane.

A driver who asked not to be named said: "They've hatched off part of the right-hand carriageway, forcing everyone into the middle lane. It's so dangerous, causes confusion and makes no sense."

Another driver said: "I nearly had someone come into the side of me because they veered over to avoid the new marks in the road."

Tweak

Russell Griffin, of Telford & Wrekin Council, said the situation would be monitored and changes made if needed.

“The changes to Ketley Brook roundabout have been made following a number of requests to tweak the layout following the changes that were made as part of the Growth Point Package works in 2016," he said.

“Essentially, with the previous arrangement, when coming from Wellington it pushed all the M54 traffic and Ketley traffic into one lane - which meant there was often queuing.

“We have therefore changed the layout when coming out of Wellington to distribute the traffic more evenly.

“We have placed temporary signs on site to show the new lane layouts to help people understand which lanes to be using.

“However, people are still very much accustomed to the previous layout, meaning some motorists are cutting in to lanes to get in the correct lane.

“We will be monitoring this over the next few weeks or months to assess whether the changes have worked and whether any further tweaks are required.”