£500k congestion-busting work begins at Merry Hill

The five-month project, which includes traffic light improvements and upgrades to bus shelters with the latest digital passenger information, started last week on High Street, Quarry Bank, near the junction with Coppice Lane.

An overhaul of the lights next to the popular shopping venue has been unveiled by Dudley Council bosses in an effort to cut down on congestion.

Any problems with the ageing traffic signals can lead to massive tailbacks on the roads network around Merry Hill.

Council chiefs have successfully applied to Centro for £455,000 from its Better Bus Area Fund cash pot. The remaining £110,000 came from the council's Integrated Transport Block Allocation.

At the same time, there will be major resurfacing programme, which will be funded out of the £9 million pot the council was awarded through the Department for Transport's Challenge Fund and will bring improvements for all road users.

Councillor Hilary Bills, cabinet member for environmental services, said: "It is a really busy stretch of road down there, so it is necessary the traffic lights need to be kept working at all times.

"They have been there for years, so they are being replaced for that reason itself. The number of times they break down is too much and they are becoming very unreliable.

"We saw an opportunity for some funding, bid for it and got it.

"They're a very important set of traffic lights so we've got to maintain them as best we can.

"We're happy the bid was successful as they were next on the list of lights needing to be done."

Journey times for both buses and general traffic, who will be travelling to and from Merry Hill, the Waterfront and Brierley Hill will also be made more efficient.

A report issued by the authority stated: "The scheme will improve the efficient operation of the traffic signals for the benefit of both general traffic and buses, and in particular improve journey time reliability."