Stafford Road £11m project scrapped

An £11million project to rip out a roundabout on one of Wolverhampton's busiest routes and replace it with traffic lights has been scrapped due to lack of funding.

A smaller £3million plan to try and ease congestion at the Vine Island, on the A449 Stafford Road, is now being drawn up after the Government pulled the plug on a chunk of money for the work.

Scrapping of the project casts a shadow over the i54 business park, which is becoming an Enterprise Zone and could become home to a new Jaguar Land Rover engine plant, creating 1,000 jobs.

Planning permission for the development was dependent on a congestion-busting scheme going ahead.

Original plans for the Vine Island, in Fordhouses, would have been funded by £5.5million from the Department for Transport and £5.5million from Advantage West Midlands.

However, Government cuts have resulted in the withdrawal of the DFT contribution, while AWM is being shut down in 2012, leaving Wolverhampton City Council with a shortfall of funds.