Motorway works cleared for holiday getaway

All roadworks on motorways in the West Midlands will be finished or lifted in time for the bank holiday getaway, highways bosses have pledged.

Around 365 miles of roadworks on England's motorways and major trunk roads will be completed this week and a further 95 miles of works will be suspended, the Highways Agency said.

Meanwhile 122,250 people are preparing to fly out from Birmingham Airport, with 32,500 leaving on Friday.

But train passengers through Staffordshire and the West Midlands have been warned they face some disruption because of engineering works

The M6, M5, M42 and M40 will be clear of roadworks in time for the start of the getaway on Friday while carriageway resurfacing on the M6 near Walsall at junctions 10 and nine will be finished.

Roads Minister Mike Penning said: "The main holiday routes have been busy throughout the school holidays and the Highways Agency has worked hard to keep these flowing as well as providing live traffic updates from its control centres.

"For the bank holiday weekend, we are completing or lifting roadworks to provide extra lane capacity and help even further."

Birmingham Airport spokesman Daniel Scaife said: "Popular destinations include the Balearics, Canaries, Turkey, Dubai and the likes of Dublin and Cork as people visit family and friends. City breaks to destinations such as New York, Paris and Milan are also proving a big hit."

The RAC has predicted that roads this year will be quieter than previous August bank holidays as families stay at home due to soaring fuel costs.

Network Rail said 3.5 per cent more trains would be running over this August bank holiday than last year. Passengers on Virgin Trains services to Wolverhampton and Birmingham over the weekend face 20-minute del-ays due to engineering work on Sunday and Monday.

London Midland will run a reduced service on Monday between Birmingham New Street, Lichfield Trent Valley, Rugeley Trent Valley and Walsall.

Roadworks completed ahead of the bank holiday:

M6 J10 to J9 near Walsall 0.4 miles

M6 J9 near Walsall 0.3 miles

M6 J15 to J16 near Stoke-on-Trent 1.5 miles

M6 J4 to J5 near Coleshill 1.5 miles

M40 J15 to J16 near Warwick 2.5 miles

M42 J10 to J11 near Tamworth 3 miles

M42 J2 near Alvechurch 0.5 miles

M42 J5 to J4 near Solihull one mile

M42 J6 near Coleshill 0.4 miles

M42 J7 near Coleshill one mile

M50 J1 near Tewkesbury 0.2 miles

Roadworks lifted for the bank holiday:

M42 J4 to J6 (near Solihull) 1.5 miles