Black Country crossing on major route to undergo congestion-busting revamp

Dudley Council has received £40,000 in funding to create a toucan crossing on the A458 Colley Gate in Cradley, near its junction with Colley Lane.

Bosses are hopeful the change will improve traffic flow heading towards the busy Windmill Hill, as well as making the stretch safer for pedestrians.

A toucan crossing also gives cyclists a safe passage across the road.

Cradley councillor Richard Body described the road, which has a 30mph speed limit, as being 'absolute mayhem' during rush hour periods.

He said there were also plans to restrict access from Burfield Road onto the busy route to help improve traffic flow.

The councillor has long called for improvements on the route and said he was hopeful the new crossing would make a difference.

He said: "At the moment there is a large yellow box. You go over it expecting the road to be clear and there is a bus there which snarls everything up.

"I have been going on about this for a long time.

"It is an absolutely terrible road, it is main road. I don't know many cars use it but it is extremely busy."

Councillor Khurshid Ahmed said the new crossing would mean cars would not be kept waiting 'unnecessarily' at a red light when nobody was waiting to cross, which has been flagged up as a cause of congestion on the route.

He said: "It will be a facility which requires people to push the button for it to turn red.

"There is not always a need for the lights to be red. It is more user friendly, and more friendly for cyclists."

Gurdev Singh, who runs Windmill Supermarket on Colley Gate, agreed another crossing was needed in the area.

He said: "There is always congestion on this road.

We always see people trying to cross over there and they are standing there for five or 10 minutes.

"Something needs to be done to help them."

Councils in the Black Country have also been tasked with trying to find ways to reduce pollution on the roads.

The cash for the crossing has been awarded to the council by DEFRA's Air Quality Fund.

The level of pollution in the region has been a cause of concern for health chiefs and last year Sandwell Council was named as one of the worst in Britain for emission levels.

And councillor Body believes the crossing could be the answer to easing the level of pollution in the area.

He said: "The idea is if we can keep traffic moving slowly it is better than having it snarled up waiting."