New road signs on A525

Observant drivers and residents may have noticed a subtle but, hopefully, a significant change in the directional signs in the centre of Audlem and along the A525 Whitchurch to Newcastle road.

Instead of the green and yellow Primary Route Network signs of old, new ordinary white and black A-road signs have been put up, albeit four years since the road was removed from the Primary Route Network in an attempt to discourage HGVs from using the narrow and winding road.

The Primary Route Network is a system of so-called major routes suitable for long distance heavy goods vehicles. Campaigners battled for years to get the road through Audlem taken off that network and were finally rewarded in the Spring of 2010.

Changing the status of the road, that is de-priming the A525, had been one of the major aims of the 2005 and 2010 Audlem Parish Plans.

It has to be admitted that HGVs are still a major problem but, as road atlases, SatNav routes and directional signs gradually change, the situation may improve and traffic may switch to the primary routes to the north (A500) and south (A53).

The new signs have also de-cluttered the area around the memorial where, only a few years ago, there were up to eighteen signs. Now it's about a third of that number.

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