Highways England are going to be closing the A5 from Queens Head to Gledrid roundabout for 2 weeks from the end of September. The roadworks are combining two separate projects to minimise disruption. The A5 will be closed overnight from the 30th of September until the 10th of October. A representative from Highways England will be attending Whittington Parish Council on Tuesday the 27th of August to update the community on the project.
We require 3 nights of closures between Queens Head and Mile End from 25 September to complete work on laybys and emergency telephones. We also need to complete some resurfacing and works on laybys as well as some road markings both north and south of Whittington roundabout. We need 2 weeks of night time closures for each area and as the diversion route is the same for both, through Whittington from Queens Head to Gledrid. We will mitigate the issue of lorries coming through whittington village from Oswestry by extra signage from Oswestry encouraging the use of the B5069 to Five Ways. We will look to start 30 September for 2 weeks.
Martin Follmer, Highways England Customer Service Manager
Closing the A5 from Queens Head to Gledrid roundabout for 2 weeks is bound to cause some disruption. With the works taking place overnight this is kept to a minimum. The A5 is a busy primary route even at night. Hopefully closing the A5 from Queens Head to Gledrid roundabout for 2 weeks will not disrupt or disturb residents along the route at night.
What is interesting is that Highways England says that the proposed diversion is a 2-minute delay. The fact it is so small tells you all you need to know about normal traffic flows during the daytime. Many vehicles use the old Holyhead Road still as they know delays at Mile End are possible. SatNav systems will also send people this way a peak times. Highways England need to get their act together to improve flow on the A5. Likewise, if Shropshire Council effectively managed traffic safety along the old route, as residents want, traffic slows down, journey times increase and traffic using this route as a rabbit run use the A5 like they should. Everybody wins.
Full details are here: https://roadworks.org/?114557523 and will be updated nearer to the time of the diversion.
If you have any problems or concerns with the proposed closure let me know or pop along to Whittington Parish Council on Tuesday to take them up with the Highways England rep.