A £2.9m project to replace the railway bridge on Mill Street in Wem is set to begin this weekend.
Following feedback from the local community, Network Rail has delayed the start time of the road closure underneath the bridge on Mill Street to allow residents to travel to and from the town’s Christmas Fayre without having to follow the diversionary route. It will now come into effect at 9pm on Saturday 4 December.
Mill Street will then be temporarily closed underneath the railway bridge until 4am on Wednesday 29 December and a signed diversionary route will be in place along the B5063/Shawbury Road, A49 and B5065/Soulton Road.
The core work will take place from 11pm on Friday 24 December to 4am on Wednesday 29 December with staff working around the clock as no trains will be running.
During this period, there will be a single lane closure and traffic lights in place at the roundabout between the B4576 and the B5063, as well as a full closure of the roundabout for 15 minutes on Sunday 26 December, whilst the new bridge is driven into place. Pedestrian access will be maintained underneath the bridge as much as possible when work isn’t happening.
The new bridge will be driven into place using a self-propelled modular transporter (SPMT) which means that a temporary full road closure is only needed for 15 minutes.
Laura Townsend, scheme project manager for Network Rail said: “At over 100 years old, the railway bridge on Mill Street has come to the end of its life so replacing it now will allow us to continue to run a safe and efficient railway resulting in better journeys for rail passengers and road users in the future.
“We know that there is never an ideal time to carry out work of this nature and we would like to thank the local community in advance for their patience whilst we carry out this essential work. “This is a significant investment in Wem and I hope local residents will bear with us as much as possible during this period.”
A rail replacement bus will be in operation on 27 and 28 December between Shrewsbury and Crewe.
Follow up work is planned to take place until mid-January 2022.
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