Firm 'paid £2.6m' for controversial road changes

The firm behind a controversial road scheme in Shropshire was paid £2.6m to carry out the work, a council revealed.

The gyratory at Castle Foregate, around Shrewsbury's railway station, was overhauled in a multi-million pound project funded by the government.

However they have led to congestion problems and a petition to change it back was signed by nearly 7,000 people.

Shropshire Council said "lessons will be learned" following the backlash over the scheme.

The work turned two lanes of Castle Foregate into one, so a cycle path and "floating" bus stop could be installed.

Following the changes, the fire service said crews were "unnecessarily" delayed during emergency call-outs due to the new layout.

As well as the petition, a bar near the station launched a beer called Panic at the Bus Stop over the issues.

The local authority said it had now received an interim stage three road safety audit for the project.

The audit examined the construction changes and their operational risks, with officers at the council now reviewing the details.

A formal "designers' response" will be required for the audit, including comments from the council, regarding any observations or recommendations made within the report.

This will then be shared with the council's task and finish group that has been set up to consider the project.

The economy and environment scrutiny committee will also be sent a copy of the report from the audit, with an update being issued to the authority's cabinet at a future meeting.

Shropshire Council confirmed that £2.68 had so far been paid to McPhillips, the firm awarded the gyratory contract.

"This provided better value for money for the council and utilisation of the resources available," councillor Rob Wilson said.

Council leader Heather Kidd added that there was no completion date for the work "because it wasn't our contract".

"We don't want to spend more money unless we get it right this time," she said.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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