Councillors to debate £3.7m upgrades at one of Dudley's busiest road junctions
Dudley Council’s cabinet is set to debate a major upgrade to one of the busiest road junctions in the borough.
A meeting of the council’s cabinet will hear proposals to improve the Burnt Tree intersection at a meeting on Wednesday (July 30).
The £3.7 million scheme will be funded by the Department of Transport via the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) to improve bus routes from Dudley to Birmingham.
A report for cabinet members on the plan said: “In Dudley, the nature of the roads along which the cross-city route runs means that opportunities for full bus priority are limited either by road width, or capacity constraints.
“The Dudley elements of the programme consists solely of interventions at the Burnt Tree junctions where benefits to bus patrons and other users can be derived.”
The improvements will benefit a number of bus services including the 74, 87 and 126.
The Burnt Tree Junction is a major crossing point where the A4123 Birmingham New Road intersects with the Birmingham Road and Dudley Port which connects Dudley and Tipton.
Proposed work at the junction includes moving a bus stop to drop passengers closer to Tesco, removing traffic islands, adding an additional lane, making crossing points easier for pedestrians and cyclists and creating a two-way cycle lane around the junction.
A consultation process on a final proposed design took place in autumn 2024 and attracted 58 responses with 56 per cent in favour of the changes.
A total of 35 per cent of respondents liked improved facilities for cyclists while 27 per cent said it was a waste of money.
Meanwhile 63 per cent thought the changes would make the junction safer, only 53 per cent thought it would reduce congestion and just 51 per cent thought it would improve bus services.
Councillors will also be told approval for the scheme is needed urgently to accommodate other planned work on the highways and delay could impact other projects.
