Chaos for motorists as M6 work extended
Drivers face months more disruption as roadworks on the M6 have been extended until this autumn.
Work is taking place as part of the smart motorway upgrade between Junction 10A at Essington to 13 at Stafford.
Once completed, the scheme will see motorists allowed to use the hard shoulder in a bid to ease traffic.
The project was due to be completed this spring, but it has now emerged that additional works have been added to the scheme which will not be competed until the autumn.
A Highways England spokesperson, said: "We began work on the M6 J10a-13 smart motorway scheme in October 2013 to ease congestion and improve journey reliability.
"Good progress has been made and the scheme end date has been extended to Autumn 2015 as we are now delivering a significant amount of additional work, such as resurfacing the whole section and other maintenance work.
"By combining this work now, we are utilising existing traffic management and reducing the need for maintenance closures in the future, thereby minimising disruption while delivering improved benefits to road users."
It is another blow for motorists after it was revealed this week that roadworks at the Junction 9 southbound slip road will also overrun until November.
The junction, for Wednesbury, has been closed since January, causing long tailbacks on connecting roads and neighbouring junctions.
Repair work was due to be completed by the end of this month but this has now been put back until November.
Highways Agency bosses said problems with corrosion to steel beams had been far greater than anticipated.
The re-waterproofing repair work stretches to the M5 link at West Bromwich with similar work taking place north of Birmingham and at spaghetti junction.
The work has caused traffic chaos for shoppers going to the Gallagher Retail Park which is home to Ikea, PC World and Furniture Village, while commuters say they have been hit by delays on routes to work during busy rush hour periods.
The Highways Agency say the slip road has been closed for the duration of the scheme to help keep traffic moving and reduce congestion.
There are also plans to revamp the main M6 junction 10 island at Walsall under a £65m scheme.
A 2020 deadline has been placed on the project, which aims to improve one of the busiest motorway junctions in the UK. The aim is to cut the chronic congestion endured every day.
