National Highways has announced a £30m investment for the ‘Shropshire Triangle' to help improve safety.

Formed by three major A-roads - the A5, A483 and A458 - on the England-Wales border, the ‘Shropshire Triangle' provides ‘vital links' for communities, businesses and visitors between the Midlands, North Wales and the North West.

National Highways said that to improve safety on the ageing and ‘tired' routes, its plans include:

  •  26,500 metres of drainage repairs to 'ease flooding'
  • 144,531 metres of renewed road markings
  • 8,688 renewed road studs 
  • 160m of renewed concrete barrier
  • 77 lane km of resurfacing.

Also included in the scheme is the laying of high friction surfacing to help prevent skidding.

National Highways' route manager for Shropshire, Joseph Walmsley, said: ‘Many of the roads we manage were built around 60 years ago and now need renewing to keep people and goods moving safely and reliably, while supporting future growth.'

Work is set to get under way on the A458 scheme from Shrewsbury to the Welsh border on 5 October, with the scheme expected to be completed in March 2027. The work is expected to ‘largely take place overnight' to take advantage of lower traffic numbers.

The largest of the planned projects for the triangle is set to take place on the A5 from Chirk to Preston between January 2027 and spring 2028 and will be carried out in phases ‘to minimise disruption'.

Included will be essential maintenance such as repairs to bridge joints, replacing traffic loops in the road which inform the signals and cutting back vegetation, along with the replacement of traffic signals on the A5 at Dobbies Roundabout.

An improvement scheme on the A483 from Oswestry to the Welsh Border is also planned to start in 2027/28. The scheme includes resurfacing, concrete barrier repairs and drainage renewals and is expected to take roughly eight months to complete.

National Highways is also investigating other improvement projects, including safety improvements on the A483 between Oswestry and the Welsh Border, a roundabout on the A483 at Llynclys and improvements to the A5 Oswestry roundabouts.