Overnight closures are to start on M6

Closures will start today and last until the end of August as work continues on a congestion-busting scheme between junction eight – where it meets the M5 – to junction five for Castle Bromwich.

The work, called a managed motorway scheme, will see the hard shoulder opened up during busy times.

For the work to take place one direction will be closed at a time, from 10pm to 5.30am on weekdays, and until 8am on Saturdays and Sundays. Diversion routes will be in place for the numerous closures.

The work will involve carriageway surfacing, installation of gantry-mounted signs, CCTV cameras and vehicle detection loops.

Redundant overhead gantries and street lighting will also be removed. During the work, additional overnight lane shutdowns and slip-road closures may be needed.

Rob Edwards, SCHEM manager for the scheme, said: "Using overnight closures gives us full access to the motorway and means we can remove and then install the gantries and overhead signs as quickly and efficiently as possible.

"Closing the M6 also ensures the safety of road workers and the travelling public as the road workers will be working overhead and will be working with large and heavy equipment.

"Although the closures will be in place overnight when there is less traffic on the M6, we do advise road users to allow more time for their journey and to follow the clearly signed diversion routes."

The closures come as residents were warned of up to 20 weeks of work taking place to strengthen a 170-year-old canal bridge in Oldbury.

Dudley Road and part of Dudley Road East will become one-way, in the Oldbury direction, from July 22.

They are starting the work at the beginning of the school summer holidays when the roads are quieter.

The A457 Dudley Road/Dudley Road East will be closed in the Dudley/Tipton direction from its junction with Oldbury Ringway to its junction with Lower City Road.