First glimpse of £25m West Bomwich underpass

This is the first image of a £25 million underpass aimed at cutting congestion in West Bromwich.

The Government-funded scheme involves constructing a dual carriageway underpass beneath the A41 and A4031 roundabout in West Bromwich, where The Expressway meets All Saints Way.

The roundabout is one of the borough's busiest junctions, carrying 63,000 vehicles, and it is hoped the scheme will improve traffic flow.

A driver's view of the dual carriageway underpass shows a footbridge which will take walkers from the All Saints area of the town to Cronehills and the new £200m Tesco store which is under construction.

The walls and beams supporting the bridge will be filled with reinforced concrete to reduce vibrations and disruption to nearby homes. Under plans, motorists will pass under what is currently the West Bromwich Fire Station roundabout.

The artist's impression shows how a bird's eye view of the reshaped roundabout will look after the development.

Temporary traffic signals along the Expressway are allowing new entry slip roads to be built for the reshaped roundabout while the former All Saints Depot can be developed by BT Liberata at the same time.

It is hoped freeing the traffic flow for drivers going straight on at the island from West Bromwich to Birmingham will limit the number of cars on the new roundabout and speed up journeys in and around the regenerated town. Councillor Derek Rowley, Sandwell's road boss, said the works were progressing well. He added: "In recent weeks there has been visible progress on the ground works, including the construction of foundations for the west overbridge.

"Sewer diversions on the western side of the scheme have been successfully completed and roadworks have also started in the south-east section of the site at Cronehills. This will enable construction of the new Tesco store to start soon.

"Traffic is currently being diverted on to a temporary route through the works so that the old subways can be demolished and filled in, and the main overbridges and pedestrian footbridge constructed."

Visit www.sandwell-a41.co.uk to view images of works from the webcam.