Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street shut on eight more Sundays and on overnight closures to 8 November, after extra steelwork was found.

Work on the two railway bridges at Castle Foregate in Shrewsbury was meant to finish on 11 September. It will now run until 8 November, and the road closures go with it.

Network Rail and its contractor Amco Giffen found more steelwork to repair once they started. The council says those repairs were “identified as being necessary before scaffolding could be fully erected”, which is why the programme has slipped by almost two months.

The bridges stay open to traffic in the daytime throughout. What changes is the night and early Sunday pattern on Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street.

The eight Sundays still to come

Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street close from 12.30am to 7am on these Sundays:

  • 20 September
  • 27 September
  • 4 October
  • 11 October
  • 18 October
  • 25 October
  • 1 November
  • 8 November

The council explains the timing: those hours are “the longest continuous period when no trains are running”, which is what the remaining steelwork repairs need. The last three of those Sundays, on 25 October, 1 November and 8 November, will also be used to take the scaffolding down in stages.

Calendar strip showing the Sunday early morning closures and the overnight closures at Castle Foregate, Shrewsbury, from 20 September to 9 November 2026
When Castle Foregate, Cross Street and Howard Street are shut, to 9 November. Graphic by Shropshire Today.

The overnight closures, 8pm to 6am

Separate overnight closures run from 8pm to 6am on the same three roads.

To install the new pigeon proofing mesh:

  • Monday 28 September to Thursday 1 October
  • Monday 5 October to Thursday 8 October
  • Monday 12 October to Thursday 15 October

To take the scaffolding down:

  • Sunday 18 October to Monday 19 October
  • Sunday 25 October to Monday 26 October
  • Sunday 1 November to Monday 2 November
  • Sunday 8 November to Monday 9 November

Signed diversion routes are in place during every closure, and the council says access for emergency services is maintained at all times.

If you are on foot

This is the part that gets missed. The footpath along Castle Foregate is closed to pedestrians for the whole duration of the scheme, not just during the road closures. A signed diversion sends people to the footpath on the opposite side of the road.

That matters because this is the walking route between the town centre and Shrewsbury railway station. The original May announcement was more specific, naming the closed side as the station side of Castle Foregate and Castle Gates.

What the work actually is

The scheme covers two structures. One is the Castle Foregate bridge itself. The other is the Great Western bridge, which the council’s original announcement in May placed “set back from the road on Castle Foregate between Star BBQ Kebab and The Shrewsbury Ark”.

The work is cleaning, repair and repainting, plus the steelwork repairs and new pigeon proofing mesh to replace the existing panels. It was originally programmed to run from 23 May to 11 September.

What it means for you

For most people this is a night time problem, not a daytime one. The bridges are open to vehicles during the day for the whole scheme, so the school run and the commute are not affected.

Three groups should plan around it:

  • Anyone driving into or out of the station area before 7am on a Sunday. Eight Sundays are affected between now and 8 November. Raven Meadows multi-storey car park is normally reached via Castle Foregate.
  • Night workers and late deliveries on Castle Foregate, Cross Street or Howard Street, on the 8pm to 6am dates listed above.
  • Anyone walking to the station. The footpath on one side is shut throughout, so allow for crossing.

The council has promised “a further update” if anything changes, and says residents, businesses and the emergency services are being notified directly with updated advance warning signs on site. Our Shropshire roadworks page carries the rest of the county’s closures, and is updated each week.

One date to watch beyond this scheme: the Shrewsbury Half Marathon closes much of the town centre on the morning of Sunday 27 September, which is also one of the bridge closure Sundays. The bridge closure ends at 7am and the race closures start at 8am, so they do not overlap, but that is a narrow window if you need to move a vehicle.

Sources