'We've got four lanes of idiots instead of two': Fury as M6 Junction 10 chaos continues despite £78m upgrade

The improvement works, delivered by National Highways, were designed to ”ease congestion and reduce journey times” for the thousands of drivers using the junction each day.

Completed in March 2024, the scheme included widening slip roads, introducing four-lane bridges and increasing overall capacity at one of the UK’s busiest motorway junctions.

However, some residents say the reality on the ground has fallen short of those ambitions, claiming the changes have brought traffic closer to their homes, while the removal of trees has exposed them to greater levels of noise and light pollution.

Alan Holland, who has lived on Arnwood Close for 22 years, bemoaned a dramatic loss of wildlife following the works.

“The birds and the wildlife just disappeared,” he said. “We had everything you could have imagined and it was amazing considering how close to junction 10 we are, but that’s all gone now.

“All the gantries that we can see now used to be covered by some lovely trees, and then one day someone just turned up and started hacking away at them. That really annoyed me, it was ridiculous that we had no warning.”

Mr Holland added that he has stopped putting out bird feeders due to the absence of wildlife, calling it “a real shame”.

He also criticised the impact on congestion, saying: “It was two lanes of standing traffic around an island and now it is four lanes of standing traffic around an island. It’s always been bad, but considering they spent £78m on it they certainly haven’t improved things.”

Similar concerns have been raised by other residents, including several households on Wolverhampton Road West, who were involved in consultations after plans were first proposed in 2015 but claim to have had little communication in recent years.

Alan Jones, who has lived with the junction on his doorstep for 12 years, said the loss of established trees has left homes more exposed, while newly planted saplings may take years to have any meaningful impact.

He also fumed at the four-lane system which he believes causes more problems for drivers who get confused about which lane to be in.

“It has made a change, yes - now we’ve got four lanes of idiots instead of two,” he said. “I do think work needed doing, but they could have done a better job of it. You get a lot more traffic coming down here now than we did before.”

Mr Jones also questioned how much influence local people have over large infrastructure schemes.

“We haven’t really got any influence as residents, have we? If something like this is going to be done we don’t have a chance. How am I going to stop it?

“There were five of us complaining but nothing came of it. There’s even more building work going on up the road now.”

A National Highways spokesperson said: “The new bridges, replacing the 50-year-old original structures, have doubled the number of lanes around the junction from two to four. We also made improvements to some of the approach roads and there is now better accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians.

“Five huge gantries, which span all four lanes housing technology and signage, have been installed to help drivers navigate the junction more easily.

“These improvements were very much needed at junction 10 which had previously caused lengthy delays for motorists and hindered local businesses for a long time.”