Traffic Alert: Floods bring motorway misery for second week in succession

5pm Update

THE earlier floods have left a legacy of misery for commuters heading home this evening.

Here are just some of the troublespots we know of.

One lane is blocked and there is slow traffic on the M6 northbound between Junction 8 – the connection with the M5 – and Junction 9 (Wednesbury) due to flooding.

In Birmingham, the Saltley Viaduct is closed and there is queuing traffic in both directions between Saltley Road (A47) and Adderley Road (B4145).

Manor Road in Stechford is badly affectedby flooding, while an earlier accident continues to impact the A452 Chester Road in Tyburn.

On the A38 there is very slow traffic towards Birmingham city centre, with congestion around the Speedwell Road junction and Holloway Circus.

There is also stationary traffic on the B4100 in Digbeth between Allison Street and Milk Street, while there is also slow traffic on Yardley Green Road at Bordesley Green.

The A457 Dudley Road is closed in both directions due to a collapsed manhole. There is very slow traffic in both directions between the Grove Lane junction and Heath Street.

There is also slow traffic on the A4034 Bromford Road in Oldbury because of earlier flooding at the railway bridge.

On the trains, there are still delays of up to an hour reported on London Midland services out of Birmingham Snow Hill.

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3.15pm Update

CONGESTION on the M6 southbound between Cannock and Walsall is now said to be tailing back past Gailey (J12) and onto the M54 where it joins the M6.

All lanes have reopened southbound following the earlier accident between three lorries but the area remains congested; there are even reports of queuing traffic on the M6 Toll as drivers look to avoid the situation.

Elsewhere, parts of the Bullring shopping centre and Birmingham’s indoor market both had to be closed after flooding disrupted trade.

Services on the Midland Metro between West Bromwich and Birmingham also had to be suspended.

There are also delays to London Midland rail services between Birmingham Snow Hill and Stourbridge Junction, with a replacement bus service runing between Worcester Shrub Hill and Stourbridge due to the flooding.

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2.30pm Update

THERE are now reports of a serious accident involving three lorries on the southbound M6 between Cannock (J11) and Walsall (J10).

Two lanes are closed and Highways England has said it does not expect the situation to clear until after 4pm. 

The earlier situation on the M5 is said to be easing.

Conditions are still said to be difficult in Birmingham, Smethwick and Oldbury, while reports of flooding have also been received from Wombourne.

Fire crews have also been called to Heartlands Hospital where there are also reports of flooding.

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2pm

HEAVY storms are causing major problems for drivers using the M5 and M6 in Birmingham and the Black Country.

Two lanes are currently closed on the M5 southbound between West Bromwich (J1) and Oldbury (J2) to allow highways engineers to try and try and keep the carriageway clear of surface water.

Not surprisingly there are warnings of long delays in the area.

The conditions are almost a mirror image of those endured by drivers during last week’s heavy storms, which severely affected the same stretch of motorway.

Conditions are also bad on roads surrounding the motorway and Smethwick – which was badly affected last week – has once again by hit badly with large areas of standing water.

Fire services have warned drivers not to drive through flood water without knowing how deep it is.

In Landor Street in Birmingham (below) several people had to be rescued.

The Chester Road in Birmingham is currently closed as fire crews deal with a man trapped in a car on its side following an accident (below), while elsewhere crews are also attending homes in Upper Gornal, near Dudley which have been struck by lightning.

This was what conditions are like in Dartmouth Road, West Bromwich.