Multi-million pound revamp of Walsall M6 junction granted green light
A congestion-busting multi-million pound scheme to expand Junction 10 of the M6 at Walsall was today given the go-ahead.
The motorway improvement scheme is one of more than dozen projects in the West Midlands announced today.
In total £3.8billion is being shared out on motorway and trunk routes improvement and maintenance schemes.
The Junction 10 project will free up the major gateway route into Walsall, as well as making it easier and quicker for firms in the town to get their goods and products out into the rest of the country.
Both bridges will be replaced to allow for the widening of the roundabout to four lanes, making it easier to cope with the huge amount of traffic moving onto and off of the M6 and crossing from one side of the motorway to the other.
It is part of wider £15billion funding announced by the Government today that will see millions of pounds pumped into various road improvement projects across the country.
Walsall Council leader Sean Coughlan today welcomed the news.
He said: "This is great news for Walsall. That roundabout is a major bottleneck in the area.
"This will mean major improvements for people's travels.
"It will be much better for people wanting to travel from Willenhall to Walsall and vice versa.
"Having an extra lane is really going to improve that."
The improvements at junction 10 will also help 10 key employment sites within a 10-minute radius and create 2,500 new homes as part of the Black Country Local Growth Deal.
Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin unveiled the ambitious plans in Parliament to improve the country's transport network.
A total of £1.4bn has been set aside for motorways and key routes in the West Midlands, including the M6 and M42. Seventeen schemes will be launched, creating around 900 construction jobs.
And £2.4bn will go towards maintaining roads across the Midlands.
Mr McLoughlin described the roads programme as the 'biggest, boldest and most far-reaching' for decades.
Major improvements will also be made to the M42 near Birmingham Airport and the NEC, as well as the M5 and M42 around Birmingham to turn stretches into 'smart motorways', which can include opening up the hard shoulder to traffic during busy periods.
