Plan to 'pause' controversial Wolverhampton junction changes after resident protest rejected

Fears about traffic backing up for miles, speeding cars, increased accidents are just some of the worries of the residents.

Tettenhall Councillor Udey Singh submitted a motion to delay the plan to give residents longer to discuss the plans to Wednesday's full Wolverhampton Council,

However, the motion which called for "a pause on all progress relating to the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) at The Rock junction

"Conduct a public meeting on the issue, with all residents of the Tettenhall Wightwick and Tettenhall Regis wards able to attend."

However, the leader of the council Councillor Stephen Simkins refused to allow the motion to be put forward to the council.

Councillor Singh told the Express & Star: "This junction will have major consequences for motorists and local residents. Thousands of people a day will be affected by these changes and residents have not been given a say in the matter.

"The Rock Junction is very important to Wolverhampton, not just my ward either, Merryhill will have more traffic too."

Councillor Singh convinced the council to extend the public consultation for a week until January 12 but is furious there have been no meetings with residents.

He said: "We were promised drop in sessions, there have been none. The residents are worried about huge amounts of traffic which will be sent down roads which are not suitable.

"And residents who have lived there for 20 years are worried about speeding, and accidents caused by all this new traffic."

He added: "I am disappointed the council leader did not accept the motion to be discussed at full council."

Tettenhall resident Nick Kelshaw demanded the residents get a fair hearing after the motion was rejected.

He said: "Where is our public meeting? When are our drop in sessions? What are the timescales for objection responses?

And the professional driver wants council officers to listen to residents objections and ideas.

He said: " No one even any council officer is enough of a genius to not need to listen to someone else's guidance and help inform their thinking. Even Albert Einstein often said he needed to get his wife to consult on maths."

The consultation period on a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) over the highway changes ended last week.

A spokesperson for Wolverhampton Council said: “After the launch of the consultation on proposed measures around the junction of Tettenhall Road (A41) and Henwood Road, the council received many enquiries.

“As a result, further information and detailed data about the proposed changes were made available on the council website. This was highlighted on the council’s social media channels which encouraged people to have their say.

“No decision has been made on whether to implement the scheme at this stage as we will first consider all comments and representations from the consultation."

“There will be drop-in sessions to provide individuals with the opportunity to discuss any specific issues."

The spokesman added: “If it is decided to proceed with them they will be implemented through an experimental TRO and the period for objections would continue for the first six months.”