Highways England plan new West Midlands junction

Highways England has entered into a joint venture with Walsall Council to provide a £78M upgrade to junction ten of the M6 as a way of easing congestion and speeding up journeys for thousands of drivers, with preparation work scheduled to commence by autumn.The scheme has been supported by the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership and will replace the bridges which run over the motorway, will increase capacity at the traffic bottleneck, and will improve safety, with construction schedule to commence in January 2020 while completion will not be achieved until the summer of 2022.Contractor, John Sisk and Son has been appointed to design and construct the new junction which will also make the existing junction larger in order to reduce delays for road users, while also facilitating growth at the Black Country Enterprise Zone in Darlaston.The existing junction is more than 50 years old, meaning that replacement of the existing bridges will avoid an extensive maintenance project, and, after a public inquiry in April, the Secretary of State confirmed orders to acquire the necessary land for the scheme.This will only include a small area on a permanent basis, however, as the project uses existing highway land wherever possible.The substantial congestion and delays experienced in the region are one of the main issues highlighted in the West Midlands Strategic Transport Plan.