Shrewsbury relief road will add to congestion, says expert

Organised by Shrewsbury Better Transport (BeST) and Sustainable Transport Shropshire, speakers called for best public transport provision and Park & Ride facilities in the town which they believe would solve congestion in and around Shrewsbury.

And they said that while Shropshire Council claims that the NWRR would solve the majority of Shrewsbury's transport problems, the opposite would be true.

Traffic expert Professor John Whitelegg said he felt very positive following the meeting and was pleased to hear that so many people in Shrewsbury shared his concerns.

"After the road is built and opened there will be more traffic on around two thirds of the roads in Shrewsbury," he said.

"If you build new roads it encourages people to make more trips by car. Shropshire Council says that this road will reduce congestion but I do not think the numbers have been done correctly for this road. There will be 10-20 per cent more traffic than forecast.

"I have been involved in traffic planning for 30 years and if you ask anybody who has built a road like this has it reduced congestion, they can not say it has.

"We need to tackle congestion in a different way. We need a better Park & Ride service. We need to offer an attractive setting with waiting areas and coffee machines and buses running every 10-15 minutes. We need to offer a clear pricing structure and at the same time reduce parking in the town centre to encourage more people to use the Park & Ride service. The best Park & Ride service I have seen is in York and this is something we should copy.

We offer very generous levels of parking in the town centre and a pricing regime that does not work. It seems to me there are no serious attempts to improve alternatives to the car and that is why building this road is of no use to anybody.

"Shropshire Council has announced a Climate Emergency. We need a 40 per cent reduction in journeys travelled by car. That is a tough one but we have to try. If we build the road, the problems we have been talking about will get worse. We have to solve the problems not ignore them. There are many ways to sort this out without people using their cars more. If we proceed with the road we will make the problems worse."