Motorists in Tamworth Town Centre can expect weeks of delays as the latest improvement works to ‘The Upper Gungate Corridor’ start next week.

Earlier this year, Staffordshire County Council announced a string of improvement works for what is describes as ‘The Upper Gungate Corridor’ and the scheme now moves on to its final stage at the junctions of Lichfield St / Aldergate, Bell Corner and the Offa Drive / Gungate junction.

The Upper Gungate Corridor runs roughly north-south through the Tamworth urban area, carrying traffic from the A513 (along part of the Corridor) and B5493.

The corridor runs from Fountains junction, where Comberford Rd and Ashby Rd meet, along Upper Gungate and Aldergate to Lichfield Street at the western side of the town centre. Estimated cost of the whole project is £1.8 million and is due to be completed by Spring 2015.

The purpose of the scheme is to implement a package of improvements to reduce congestion and provide better highway capacity along this Corridor.

Works to the Upper Gungate / Croft St junction as well as the Fountain Junction were completed earlier in the year and the final stage is due to begin on January 5, lasting approximately 12 weeks.

What’s happening at Lichfield St / Aldergate Junction?

It is proposed that the present junction will be widened to the south side of Lichfield St so that traffic can move from Lichfield St to Aldergate and from Aldergate to Lichfield St at the same time. (With the present layout this cannot happen as large vehicles from Lichfield St need to use both sides of the road to get around the corner by the White Lion Public House.) The traffic lights will remain in place and will allow turning traffic to enter Silver Street and exit Church Street and Silver Street when required.

What’s happening at Hospital St / Aldergate (Bell Corner)?

Traffic signal equipment is being upgraded to give better timing control and thereby reduce delays to traffic. These signals will be linked with others along the length of the corridor and co-ordinated to act as a single system.

What’s happening at Offadrive / Gungate Junction?

As at Hospital Street junction, traffic signal equipment is being upgraded to give better timing control and thereby reduce delays to traffic. These signals will be linked with others along the length of the corridor and co-ordinated to act as a single system.

What will the benefits be?

Traffic travelling between Aldergate and Lichfield Street will have a green light most of the time. The only times when this will not be the case is when vehicles wanting to turn out of Silver Street or Church St are detected or pedestrians want to cross the road. When one of these happens, a different phase of the traffic lights will trigger to allow the pedestrians or turning traffic to proceed safely.

What disruption will there be?

The Lichfield Street/Aldergate junction normally operates under traffic signals. During the construction work this will still be the case, however passing through the junction is likely to take longer than usual.

Areas of footway will be closed or restricted at various times during the construction work. Diversions will be signed.

Towards the end of the construction work, there will be local road closures to allow re-surfacing to take place. These will be at quiet times for a short duration.

Comment

If you would like to comment on the scheme or suggest improvements, please contact Neil Porter (01785 276573 - [email protected]) or Guy Pryer (01785 276684 - [email protected] ).