Britain's most struck railway bridge could be in danger from high vehicles as roadworks on the A5 mean lorry drivers need to follow diversions.
Although clearly marked with the height restrictions, the St John Street bridge has been hit 28 times in the last 12 months.
Roadworks start on the A5 at Wall roundabout, between Muckley Corner and the Weeford roundabout, on Monday 6th July. Lasting until the 24th July special diversions for high sided vehicles have been set up to avoid the low bridge. Every weeknight between 8 pm and 6 am road closures will be in place.
Martin Colmey, head of operations for Central route, said: “With St John Street bridge in Lichfield already having the unenviable title of the most bashed in the country, I'd urge all drivers of large vehicles to follow the recommended diversion signs and not their sat-nav during Highways England's work on the A5.
“There is no excuse for drivers to hit railway bridges. Bridge strikes are entirely avoidable, put the safety of rail passengers and road users at risk, and cost the taxpayer millions of pounds each year to fix. Our message is simple – lorry drivers, plan your route and know, don't guess, the height of your vehicle.”
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I don’t understand why that most lorry drivers have failed to spot the low bridge sign before it’s too late. Same with bus drivers who drive double decker buses that can’t fit underneath the railway bridge. And these drivers have been issued with fines and probably have been sacked.
Perhaps a new A5 bypass could be built to allow HGVs and larger vehicles to avoid this low bridge at Lichfield. As well diversion routes around Lichfield.
Please link to the Twitter account for the bridge in your articles about it https://twitter.com/LichfieldBridge
You seem to have the wrong road closure details. The Highways England letter to residents says, “To complete the work, we will need to close the A5 overnight from Muckley Corner to Weeford interchange in both directions between 6 July and 24 July. We’ll work Monday to Friday during the night between 20:00 and 6:00”.
Sorry to be picky but I am a local so incidents with St John Street bridge always cause havoc, not only to the railway, but the local roads.
Carry on the good work.
Hi,
Thankyou for the feedback, much appreciated
The Network Rail press release is worded differently so we have updated the article.