Welshpool is holding its breath this weekend as tens of thousands of vehicles are expected to stretch the town’s new one-way system to the limit.
A steady stream of traffic has been flowing through the town all week, but a tsunami of traffic from the Midlands will hit the town from Thursday night as the lure of coastal sunshine sparks a mass migration west.
The system buckled under the added burden a fortnight back when the English schools first broke up but the real Acid Test comes over the coming hours, and you could feel the anticipation in the town today (Thursday).
“I fear the worst!” said one shopper. “It is almost like the lull before the storm. I feel like buying a whole bunch of deck chairs and renting them out to the motorists when they are stuck in jams this weekend! I’ll make a fortune.”
While signage and one-way fine-tuning has been completed in readiness for this weekend, the fear is that motorists from across the border may not have updated their sat-navs which could spark chaos.
Nevertheless, Town Clerk Robert Robinson remains confident.
“The one way system has all its signs and road markings in place,” he said: “There will be some queues (along Severn Street in particular) but please remember that we have had queues to some extent every Easter for years. I hope it will be no worse than before. All public comments made to the Town Council have been passed to the County Council Highways Engineers.”
Whatever you are doing this weekend, enjoy your time off and on behalf of the mywelshpool team, have a Happy Easter!