Record road investment for Midlands

Two schemes, part of a wealth of improvements designed to improve journey reliability in and around the Midlands, are due to start on site this spring.

The two projects will see smart motorway upgrades on the M6 at junctions 2 near Coventry to junctions 4 near Coleshill and on the M6 between junctions 13 at Stafford to 15 near Stoke on Trent. Once complete they will add over 30 miles of new lanes to the strategic road network, increasing capacity by a third, and introducing new technology to tackle congestion and keep drivers informed.

These are just two projects of numerous improvements around the region, with another six schemes in the Midlands reaching major milestones between January and June this year.

Key milestones on roads around the Midlands include:

• the Preferred Route Announcement to ease three bottlenecks on the A38 in Derbyshire
• a consultation on the improvement of the M42 junction 6 near Birmingham Airport and the National Exhibition Centre (NEC)
• a public information event about the A45/A6 Chowns Mill roundabout upgrade
• the Preferred Route Announcement to upgrade the A46/ A428 at Binley, Coventry

The upgrades are funded by the Government’s £15bn investment in motorways and main A roads and being delivered by Highways England.

Highways England chief executive Jim O’Sullivan said: “These upgrades in the Midlands, will improve millions of journeys. Each of these milestones in the Midlands is evidence of Highways England delivering major infrastructure upgrades for the whole country.”

The road improvements in the region come as part of the Government’s Road Investment Strategy, the biggest investment in the country’s major roads since the 1970s. The strategy was launched three years ago and the first half of the year will see 40 projects nationwide hitting key milestones. These will join the 18 other major projects that have been completed since April 2015 and 16 others currently under construction.

Completed schemes in the Midlands include the opening last year of the strategically important Catthorpe Interchange at the M1/M6/A14. This interchange is providing direct access between these roads and removing the queuing associated with the two very small local roundabouts, previously used by over 45,000 vehicles per day.

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