Congestion-cutting plans for traffic hotspot at Wolverhampton junction approved

City of Wolverhampton Council is planning to overhaul the “severely congested” Willenhall Road and Neachells Lane junction with new and widened roads and new paths and cycle routes.

The local authority’s planning committee approved the “crucial” project at a meeting on Tuesday (November 11) but admitted the scheme would inevitably lead to disruption in the area.

Planning chair Cllr Paul Sweet said the council was carrying out “bold” rather than the ‘easy or piecemeal’ work.

“It will have some disruption, inevitably, but taking it into consideration with the other two phases further up Willenhall Road, it is to be welcomed I think,” he said.

Vice chair Cllr Alan Butt added: “I think anybody that uses [the road] regularly is frustrated by the sheer volume of traffic, especially rush hour, but now it’s always rush hour, it’s a continuous flow throughout the working week.”

The planned work includes a new northbound slip road onto Neachells Lane from Willenhall Road, a new link road between the existing petrol station and the Travis Perkins depot on Neachells Lane, new cycleways and footpaths, as well as public realm improvements including more trees, upgraded hard surfacing and boundary treatments.

The work would not begin until 2031 at the earliest and would take around two years to complete.

At the planning meeting, Phillip Walker, the council’s senior planning officer, said the works would result in a “fairly long period of disruption.”

He said: “There will inevitably be problems with traffic throughout the build and that will have a knock on effect unfortunately for existing residents but we are very confident that the outcome will be positive.”

The council’s transport officer Tim Philpot said the huge work would ‘future-proof’ the busy junction – particularly for lorries and other heavy goods vehicles.

“There will be some pain, for hopefully, plenty of gain,” he told councillors.

The earlier phases of the work – which includes making the nearby Walsall Street and Horseley Fields one-way – have already been approved and are expected to start in mid-2027.

The A454 Willenhall Road ‘corridor’ connects Wolverhampton city centre with homes and businesses in Willenhall, Darlaston, Wednesbury and Bilston as well as access to the M6.

It has also been earmarked as a key area for regeneration and development opportunities.

The council said the work would help tackle “long-standing” issues such as congestion, poor air quality, noise pollution and “inadequate” walking and cycling paths.

The ‘corridor’ suffers from “severe congestion and extensive queuing,” the council said, and “widely varying journey times for all route users, particularly in the peak periods.”

“This junction is a longstanding pinch point, with delays and poor performance across all arms threatening to undermine the benefits of the wider scheme,” it added in a report published ahead of the meeting. “Its improvement is of strategic importance to the whole scheme.”

The work for the proposed northbound slip road, active travel routes and public realm improvements would require land from the former Neachells pub, which was demolished a decade ago, and land next to a home in the adjoining Rose Gardens off Neachells Lane which were built in 2019.

The council said it would be using compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) to secure the land if required.

Two homes in Neachells Lane would also need to be demolished to make for the new link road and land from the Travis Perkins depot, petrol station and the rear gardens of adjoining homes in Willenhall Road would also be required to carry out the work.

Other council plans include making Walsall Street and Lower Walsall Street one-way from Willenhall Road to accommodate westbound traffic.

Eastbound traffic would use the existing route to Wilenhall Road via Horseley Fields and Lower Horseley Fields.

Earlier this year, City of Wolverhampton Council approved plans to build a huge £45m warehouse off the busy Willenhall Road junction.

The distribution centre includes offices, more than 300 parking spaces and 60 lorry parking bays and a new entrance for lorries and cars off Neachells Lane.

Local councillors had spoken out against the plan saying traffic and congestion was “already a nightmare” in the area.