Albrighton Traffic Management.

ALBRIGHTON & DISTRICT CIVIC SOCIETY

PROPOSAL TO ‘VILLAGE PLAN COMMITTEE’, SAMdev AND SHROPSHIRE COUNCIL

“Albrighton Traffic - a PLANNED APPROACH is needed”

Albrighton and District Civic Society has identified a number of inter-related traffic management problems in its area, (this includes Albrighton, Donington, Cosford and Boningale) and proposed solutions at various times, including in its response to the SAMDev exercise. We are aware that the Parish Councils have also expressed concern in certain respects. The purpose of this letter is to bring them together, and to ask for preparation of a planned approach from Shropshire Council to address the subject in a comprehensive fashion. We believe it to be important that residents and their representatives are aware that their difficulties are being tackled, albeit over an extended time scale, and that unnecessary expenditure on partial schemes is avoided.

The problems that have been identified are:-

a) Disturbance to residents, nuisance to other road users and road safety concerns, especially to children, caused by heavy goods vehicles traversing the village, particularly along Cross Road, High Street, and along Rectory Road (to avoid the railway bridges) to and from the A464, the A41 and the M54.
b) Traffic speeds at various points including Newport Road, Cross Road and from time to time along the High Street.
c) Road safety concerns along Bowling Green Lane from Elm Road to the A464, passing David Austin Roses entrance. The concerns here are that the lane is very narrow with blind bends, and that Austins, a major employer in Shropshire with an international reputation, is now anticipating a 10% pa increase in visitor numbers, many of whom will travel via the M54 or the A41, then along the very dangerous section of Bowling Green Lane from the Elm Road junction See also e) below.
d) Parking problems, especially at the railway station, at two primary schools, the surgery and near shops.
e) Road congestion in the town centre. This will be exacerbated by the construction of new homes – around 120 have at least outline planning permission and 200 are included in the SC Preferred Options scenario. Meanwhile, local traders via the SC scheme to support market towns are about to install notice boards at a number of local visitor attractions directing tourists to the shops and services in the village (these sites include the Air Museums at Cosford, Boscobel, and David Austin Roses). Albrighton Parish Council has also stepped up its efforts to increase tourist visits.

Among the solutions identified locally, are:

f) That developers of the “white land” be required to provide access direct to the A41 to minimise the number of vehicles travelling through the village centre en route to the motorway etc.
g) Zebra crossings be installed at appropriate points along High Street as a means of improving safety for the elderly, and slowing down traffic.
h) Elimination of the blind bends on Bowling Green Lane, widening it, and providing a footpath/cycling lane as far as Old Worcester Road.
i) Reviewing speed limits on Cross Road, plus measures to slow vehicles on the Newport Road approaches to the village.
j) The construction of a north-south bypass linking the A464 to the A41/M54, possibly with access to David Austin Roses.

We appreciate that money for road improvements is tight at the moment. But because that could change if the Government so decides for employment or other reasons, we feel that preparation of a comprehensive plan for traffic management and road construction/improvement for this area is an important step to take now, so should be part of the Albrighton Neighbourhood Plan and the SAMDev response.