Work to start on £126m M6 traffic relief scheme

Work on a £126.4 million jam-busting project to open up the hard shoulder on a section of the M6 will start within days.

Hard shoulders will be closed along a stretch of the motorway when preparatory work for the project gets under way early next week.

Drivers face 50mph restrictions while work is carried out between junction eight for Great Barr and junction five for Castle Bromwich.

Narrow lanes will also be imposed while work, which is set to last more than two years, is carried out.

Speed cameras and temporary CCTV cameras will be installed in March to monitor vehicle speed and check for broken down vehicles and other incidents.

The project comes after the successful opening up of the hard shoulder between junction eight and 10A.

An order, allowing temporary speed limits to be imposed, came into force yesterday and main construction work, along with speed restrictions and narrow lanes, are set to begin between April and June.

The project is expected to be completed in 2014 although a temporary traffic order grants Highways bosses three full years.

Highways spokesman Anthony Beeby today said that once the scheme has been put in place it will reduce congestion.

He added: "The order covers a number of link roads from the M5 and M42 which join the M6, which means that when works to deliver the scheme affect these areas we can include a reduced speed limit as part of the roadworks."

Mr Beeby said research showed that journey times have improved between the M40 Junction 16, near Lapworth, and M6 Junction five, near Birmingham, since the introduction of two sections of hard shoulder running.