News on the A525 through Audlem

As we hinted at the end of yesterday's 'Welsh Vote Poll' story, it's looking as if good news on the A525 through Audlem could soon be announced officially. The large numbers of HGVs passing through the village was the single most important issue raised in the Audlem Parish Plan questionnaire responses in 2005 and there has been pressure since then to tackle the problem, including the detailed submission to the Minister of Transport published last year on Audlem Online.

The Parish Council can now advise that the counties of Cheshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and West Midlands are working together. The A525 is back on the agenda, so much so that they are jointly putting the A525, and the A51 through Woore, up for de-priming within their respective counties.

The present situation is that Cheshire County Council officials have signed off the proposal and we now await the outcome from the other counties. Finally, of course, there is the sign-off by the Minister of Transport.

We have heard that some are already saying that the A525 has been de-primed. That is not strictly true: the Parish Council has been in touch with the people responsible for this project and it has not yet been through the full procedure. Until it has been, we cannot celebrate, although it is the closest we have ever been in over thirty years.

The Parish Council is also asking the Ordnance Survey to show Audlem as a traffic black spot on their maps. This too is going through the system and will ensure the GPS people (SatNav) should eventually alter their programmes and not send long-distance trucks through the village. This, as with the de-priming, will take a while to take effect on the satellite navigation systems the HGVs use. We understand it will also be some time before the road signs are altered to show the changed status of the road as money is not available at present.

When the Parish Council learns anything more about progress on the A525, Audlem Online will publish the news immediately.

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