THE road beneath Stansty railway bridge is to close for several weeks for maintenance – sparking concerns over ‘horrendous’ congestion elsewhere in the town.

Wrexham Council confirmed yesterday that the B5101 will be closed from July 21 for a duration of six weeks as National Rail undertakes essential maintenance works on the railway bridge.

A spokesman for the council said: “Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout the closure and diversions for vehicles will be in place via Rhosddu Road, Grosvenor Road, Mold Road and Plas Coch Road.

“Drivers are advised to allow extra time for their journey or to avoid the area if possible.”

In September 2012 the Leader reported how the closure of the tunnel to trial a one-way system, which was later scrapped, resulted in heavy congestion with several readers reporting that their journeys had taken much longer than usual.

Grosvenor councillor Marc Jones said: “It is for essential maintenance so I accept that it has to happen.

“I am glad they are doing it over the summer holidays so people who have to get their children to Rhosddu Primary School or Plas Coch won’t have that problem.

“I have just learned from the contractor that the pathway will remain open through the works so that is a bit of a relief – people were telling me it would take them an hour to walk around and back – so that is some good news.”

Residents and businesses in the surrounding area shared their views on the closure with the Leader.

Mary Rowley, co-director of First Lady wedding dress showroom in Grosvenor Road, said: “It is going to be horrendous, this road is always busy anyway.

“Grosvenor Road is probably one of the busiest roads in Wrexham – it is like a car park at 5pm and 9am.

“It takes me 20 minutes sometimes to get out of my shop driveway.

“Under that bridge is really busy – it literally frightens me because sometimes they just come out, they are so frustrated at waiting for so long.

“What they should do with that is take the pedestrian pathway away, make it into a wider road and the pedestrians could have a walkway over it.”

A resident of Shellbark Close, who did not want to be named, said: “It’s not great – we go to Sainsburys and we go that way so we will have to go all the way round.

“I go that way because Rhosddu Road is a nightmare. I’m not looking forward to it.”

Rhosddu Road resident David Williams said: “There’s always bedlam here, always. This road is always busy and it is still going to be a pain – it doesn’t worry me whatsoever.”