'I can't wait for it to be done - the traffic has been chaos': Black Country residents speak of travel troubles as major Burnt Tree works continue
Residents living with roadworks at one of the main gateways into Dudley town centre have spoken of being stuck in traffic for up to half an hour as they try to leave their homes.
The work at Burnt Tree junction forms part of a multi-million-pound scheme to improve the speed of bus services between Dudley and Birmingham, but beleaguered residents and businesses told of their misery since new temporary traffic lights were installed this month.
Burnt Tree is one of the busiest road junctions in the Black Country, where Birmingham New Road, the main link road between Wolverhampton and Dudley, meets Birmingham Road, the main dual carriageway into Dudley town centre, before continuing along New Birmingham Road to the M5 junction at Oldbury. It is also next to a large Tesco Extra store, and the Castle Gate leisure park.
The nine-month programme of major roadworks began in November, but matters came to a head this month with the installation of temporary traffic lights.
Traders in Dudley town centre had already voiced concerns about the timing of the work, which comes on top of disruption caused by work on the West Midlands Metro tramline and the new £24 million Dudley bus station.
The work, to enable the introduction of a new 'Sprint' bus service and improved cycle lanes, is expected to continue until the summer, with residents now saying that they 'can't wait' until the works are over.
Narinda Samra, aged 51, a resident of Birmingham New Road, said that she spends almost 'half an hour' each morning stuck in rush hour traffic due to roadworks.
She said: "The traffic has been chaos. It's not the noise, really; we have gotten used to all the grinding and banging, but having to wait half an hour each morning just to get down one road. It's terrible.
"They are working on it pretty much every day, so it's getting done. But we can't wait for it to be finished."
The current works aren't the first to take place in the area. In 2023, the stretch of Birmingham New Road between Burnt Tree and the Black Country Living Museum was closed for four days while the landmark 'Hanson's Bridge' was replaced as part of the tramline construction.
