Drop in sessions on A49 road and rail closure
A drop-in evening was to take place tonight to discuss the closure of a main road through south Shropshire for more than a week.
The A49 is set to be completely closed to all vehicles and pedestrians from July 1 to 9, with the rail line also closed for multiple weekends across the same period.
Network Rail will be holding the public drop-in session at the Bishop Mascall Centre, Ludlow from 3pm to 7pm, and will be holding similar sessions in at Onibury Village Hall in Onibury tomorrow and Mayfair Community Centre, Church Stretton on Thursday.
The road is to be closed around the clock to completely rebuild Onibury level crossing and traffic between Shrewsbury and Hereford is to be sent on a 60-mile diversion via Bridgnorth and Kidderminster.
The rail line will also be closed all day on the weekends of July 1 and 2 and July 8 and 9 with an hourly bus replacement, in addition to previously planned weekend rail closures for work on the line this weekend and the weekend of June 24 and 25.
Andy Boddington, Shropshire councillor for Ludlow North, said: "Shropshire Council told me last week that the diversion route has been finalised by Network Rail as the route from Woofferton to Kidderminster, Bridgnorth, Shrewsbury and vice versa.
"I have asked for information on how vehicles will be diverted to and from Ludlow. It would be crazy if Shrewsbury traffic is diverted south to Woofferton and then to Kidderminster and Bridgnorth.
"Local people will use the Culmington route, as will local buses. If tourist buses and visitors are diverted south and then east before going north, it will not only disrupt their schedules, they won’t be keen on coming back again," he said.
