Telford & Wrekin Council’s highways crews are using lockdown as an opportunity to bring forward scheduled maintenance and improvement works whilst the roads are quieter to help keep disruption to a minimum, said the council.

Since the start of April 2020, highways crews have resurfaced 20km of roads and 32km of footpaths, fixed 3,000 potholes and completed more than 150 schemes, including surfacing, road safety, structure and drainage improvement schemes. 

This work has been alongside their response to a number of significant flooding and severe weather events and the winter work programme, which is now well underway with gritters on standby 24/7 and local grit bins filled.

Cllr Lee Carter, Telford & Wrekin Council cabinet member for neighbourhood services, said: “I would like to thank the highways teams for their continued efforts to keep our borough moving safely over the past year. As people are being told again not to travel unless it is necessary, the reduced traffic levels give us an opportunity to accelerate our planned highways programme to further improve our network and minimise disruption for motorists.

“As well as going out daily to fix potholes and other routine maintenance work, they are working hard to get as many of our planned improvement schemes completed as they can over the coming weeks.”

This week, crews are making an early start on a road safety scheme at Woodhouse Central in the Telford Town Centre. The three week scheme, which started Monday 11 January, will see a new zebra crossing installed and improvements to the existing blocked paved crossing points around the Town Centre Box Road. The work is being completed under a full road closure with signposted diversions in place.

The Woodhouse Central scheme is one of 222 improvement schemes planned as part of the Council’s £12m Pride in Our Community investment programme 2020/21, which is being delivered in partnership with Balfour Beatty.