Drivers are facing delays along one of the region’s busiest roads as work starts on a £1.3 junction improvement scheme.

Work on the All Saints Way to Scott Arms route between West Bromwich and Great Barr starts on February 15. The Newton Road will have lane closures around Forge Lane, West Bromwich.

They will be in place until mid-April and the 50mph speed restrictions will be lowered to 30mph.

The work includes painting lines for the red route, installation of traffic lights at the junction with Forge Lane, including pedestrian crossing facilities and widening of the pavement between the Newton Road layby and Wigmore Lane, West Bromwich, to create a shared-use footway and cycleway. Links to the the National Cycle Network Route Five at the River Tame crossing will also be improved.

Councillors gave the go-ahead for the scheme along the A4031 and A4041 last April, despite concerns expressed by residents. Hundreds of people signed a petition against the scheme.

From next Monday, Forge Lane will be one-way in a north westerly direction from the exit from West Bromwich Crematorium to its junction with Newton Road.

A diversion route will be signed for south east bound traffic via Newton Road, All Saints Way, the Expressway, Birmingham Road and Park Lane.

Vehicles will also be stopped from left and right turning from Newton Road into Forge Lane, which will become one-way on February 15 for a period of three weeks.

Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and housing Councillor Mahboob Hussain said: “I am very sorry for the delays the work will obviously cause, but in the long term it will make the route much safer.”

Anyone with any queries about the scheme or its associated traffic management should contact Sandwell Council on 0121 569 4738 for more details, alternatively the can be viewed on www.allsaints2scottarms.co.uk.