Meole Brace roundabout traffic lights 'waste of money' says Shropshire councillor

Jon Tandy, Shropshire Council member for Bayston Hill, Column and Sutton, said the work on Meole Brace roundabout, which will see a cut-through road built across the island was unnecessary and the simple solution would have been to switch off the traffic lights.

Councillor Tandy, who is not standing for re-election in May, also said the installation of traffic lights on Oteley Road was a waste of money as each set has a maintenance contract worth thousands of pounds a year.

He said: “It is a waste of money. It could have been used to cut down congestion elsewhere.

“All they needed to do was switch the traffic lights off. It is flowing well as it is.

“These lights cost money on maintenance contracts – thousands of pounds each per year. It is massive.

“It was not necessary to waste that money on that roundabout. It should have been used to cut congestion and CO2 emissions in the town centre.

“They have got traffic lights that are not needed, they are putting a road in that is not needed. When are they going to stop wasting money on things that are not needed?

“I can’t blame people who are getting angry and naggy about it. When we brought it up at council we were outvoted.

“They keep putting more and more lights on Oteley Road and they too are not needed. Each set has a high maintenance contract in case they break down. They are not cheap.

“When we are cutting social services, swimming pools and every service you can think of, they are wasting money on roads and traffic lights that are not needed.”

The work on Meole Brace roundabout is part of the £12 million Shrewsbury Integrated Transport Package, which will see work carried out to improve four major junctions around the ‘inner bypass’, at Meole Brace roundabout, English Bridge Gyratory, Reabrook roundabout and Longden Coleham.

As part of the SITP, a number of improvements are also planned for Shrewsbury town centre to make it more attractive and appealing for pedestrians, and to make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to access the town centre and find their way around.

Simon Jones, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: “The work at Meole Brace will ensure the roundabout continues to function after the vast development along Oteley Road is complete, and with the predicted additional users of the route.

“Additional safety benefits will also be added, such as a dedicated foot and cycle route to prevent some of the numerous cycle accidents that have occurred, and to make it safer for football fans to visit the Greenhous Meadow or for shoppers to visit the retail park, with additional signal-controlled crossings also being installed.

“While traffic does appear to be flowing well at the moment, we think this is largely down to motorists heeding our advice to avoid the roundabout if possible while work is carried out, and we thank them for doing so.

“We continue to encourage drivers to use an alternative route whenever possible – something that will be increasingly important from next Monday when the partial closure of the roundabout to circulating traffic from Monday to Friday is due to come into effect.”