Over 3,000 people have signed an online petition calling for the removal of the recently installed “floating” bus stop and cycle lane outside Shrewsbury Railway Station.
The controversial infrastructure is part of wider changes to the station gyratory system and has quickly become a flashpoint for residents and businesses concerned about traffic flow and practicality, including causing delays to emergency vehicles.
Petition Demands ‘Urgently Rethink’
The petition, initiated by Martin Monahan of The Buttermarket, calls for Shropshire Council to “urgently rethink the approach to the Railway Station” and “completely remove the new cyclist lane and ‘floating’ bus stop.”
Instead, Mr Monahan proposes an alternative: converting the left-hand lane into a ‘Taxi and Buses only’ lane, which could also be used by emergency services during peak congestion. The bus stop could then be placed within this reserved lane.
A key point of contention for petitioners is the isolation of the new cycle path. The petition states, “This new cyclist lane doesn’t even connect to any other cyclist lane either before or after – it is literally only this short stretch of road.”
Council Administration Distances Itself
Shropshire Council’s current Liberal Democrat administration has swiftly distanced itself from the scheme, stating that the project was inherited from the previous Conservative leadership.
Councillor Alex Wagner, Deputy Leader of Shropshire Council, acknowledged the public frustration in a Facebook post, but highlighted the difficulty in making significant changes now. He explained that the funding for the scheme, which came from Central Government, was delivered with “lots of strings attached.”
Cllr Wagner revealed the scheme’s history, confirming that the Conservatives approved the scheme in March 2024 after a public consultation, despite Liberal Democrat councillors arguing against the inclusion of the Station Gyratory part due to “concerns raised by residents” and a lack of detail.
Financial Straitjacket Over Reversal
The Deputy Leader stressed that the council is now in a “very bad position,” where undoing the completed work or cancelling the entire project would require handing back the already-spent grant funding and incurring substantial further costs to reverse the work – a sum that “could run into the hundreds of thousands or millions.”
“This is money we don’t have lying around,” Cllr Wagner stated, confirming that the next stage of the project—a planned two-way cycle lane up to Pride Hill—has been downscaled to only reach Meadow Place and will use easily removable street furniture rather than permanent concrete.
Council officers have been instructed to work on ways to mitigate the “potential problems which have arisen.” Options for action are to be assessed once the current mandatory works are complete within the next few weeks.
Cllr Wagner also confirmed that cross-party scrutiny has been asked to review the scheme’s history and monitor issues, with recommendations expected from their November agenda.
While acknowledging the “perfectly reasonable criticism and loss of faith” from the public, Cllr Wagner insisted the council will “do what we can to put this right.”