Telford lorry bans
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ALMOST EXACTLY one year after careered down a hill in Ironbridge, restrictions aimed at preventing posed.
Despite strong objections from the transport industry, county councillors in charge of highway matters in Shropshire have decided to impose weight restrictions on vehicles over 7.5 tonnes gvw except for access.
There are longer term plans for a by-pass for lronbridge, but this is some years ahead.
Objections to the restriction order from hgv operators said they were extremely concerned about the adverse effect the proposed weight limit would have on them and considered that the county council was over-reacting to one, albeit tragic, accident.
They also pointed out that they make a considerable contribution to the local economy and felt that any increase in transport costs resulting from the longer travel distances would threaten their competitiveness.
The quarry operators, in particular, emphasised that they carried a low-cost commodity and that transport costs represented a high and critical proportion of the overall price of that commodity.
The operators considered the alternative route was equally as inadequate as the one it replaced, being narrow in parts, prone to subsidence together with a steep gradient and subject to a bridge height restriction.
Generally hgv operators, supported by the Freight Transport and Road Haulage Associations, would prefer that no restrictions were applied in lronbridge until the lronbridge by-pass was constructed, said a report to councillors, However, they fully understood some of the local fears and in an effort to allay concern on the question of speed, the operators suggested that a 20mph sped limit specifically related to lorries could be considered.