Start date confirmed for £65m M6 improvement scheme

A £65m scheme to improve the M6 at one of the Black Country’s worst congestion hotspots is set to begin in 2018.

The measures include widening the carriageway at Junction 10 near Walsall and improving the roads surrounding the junction, which is one of the busiest interchanges in the UK.

Highways England has said the work will take around two years to complete, and is likely to cause more disruption to drivers using what is, one of the busiest stretches of motorway in Europe.

It has mounted a public consultation into the improvement programme, which is open until January 24 for people to lodge their comments.

The project is not new; the last government announced details of the original scheme back in July 2014 when it revealed latest Growth Deal settlement for the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership.

It said then that the scheme would involve new bridges over the motorway, which will be widened to create more capacity; intelligent traffic signals will be installed; improvements made to the motorway slip roads; the Bloxwich Lane junction will be widened and modernised; and modification will also be made to a small section of the Black Country Route. 

The investment is designed to make the junction operate efficiently and reduce vehicle delay.  

The start of work was then expected during 2017, but this has now slipped back.

Walsall Council has welcomed the project as it will help to safeguard existing jobs and create new jobs, by encouraging inward investment such as that within the nearby Black Country Enterprise Zone.