Work begins on £40m M54 slip road
Eighteen months of work on a £40 million slip road from the M54 motorway to the i54 business park in South Staffordshire was beginning today.
But drivers will not notice any changes straight away as contractors begin initial work.
Narrow lanes and speed limits of 50mph have been planned near to Junction 2 of the M54 near Wolverhampton but these will come into force in a few weeks.
Lane closures on the slip roads to the west side of Junction 2 of the M54 will also be in place.
The work is being done to provide easy access to the i54 for traffic going to and from Jaguar Land Rover’s £500 million engine plant, which is currently under construction and where around 1,400 people will work.
Staffordshire County Council and Wolverhampton City Council are jointly funding the motorway works by borrowing money and then repaying it using the business rates they will get from JLR and other other companies that set up on the i54, where 30 acres of land is still available.
Paula Wright, spokesman for Staffordshire County Council, said: “Although the contractors will be starting work there won’t be any significant disruption.
“The speed restrictions will only come into force in a few weeks times – no specific date yet, but probably early May.
“And again there will be not be closures of the slip road this will just happen as and where is necessary as work gets well underway.”
The construction work will include the building of a new road bridge over the M54 to the west of the existing junction 2, where it meets the A449 Stafford Road at Coven Heath. The existing slip roads will be extended and new roundabouts constructed.
Meanwhile £3m of work is still taking place on the A449 Stafford Road at the junction with Wobaston Road to move the Vine Island roundabout and create extra lanes to handle the i54 traffic.