M6 repairs which were due to finish in June will now continue until Christmas

Repair work on the link road off the M6 on to the M5 in West Bromwich should be complete by Christmas, Highways England has announced.

This is the second delay on the major works, which were expected to be finished by June initially - then November.

The longer it goes on, the more of an impact it will have on businesses in the Black Country.

And the more of an impact it has on businesses, the more it affects jobs.

December is the very worst time to have problems on the roads near shops.

Christmas is not a sudden flurry of shopping in the last week or two before the big day.

It starts earlier for many families looking to spread the cost.

For retailers it is undoubtedly their most crucial time.

If shoppers cannot get there and away again easily, they will go elsewhere.

Highways England gives the usual apologies but offers no practical solution to the problems motorists are experiencing every day.

There is nothing physically wrong with the slip road at junction 9 but it is closed to prevent congestion becoming even worse

further down the M6.

What is to stop it being opened at weekends or outside of peak times?

It is not enough for Highways England simply to shrug its shoulders and hide behind the expertise of its staff.

No-one disputes that re-opening the slip road would add to the congestion on the M6 but people have a right to expect the authorities to do something to meet their concerns.

And they expect to be able to rely on the timescales they have been given by these experts.

Highways England cannot in one breath say the damage is 'as predicted' while in another pleading that it could not understand its extent until it had started work.

The motorway network is the backbone of Britain and the M6 is its longest part, not to mention one of the busiest.

The roads were starved of investment for years so we can be grateful that the work is being done at all.

Yet Highways England has to remember that its job is to keep the traffic moving.

With this project it has not done so.

It must find a way to resolve the congestion the work has created, even if only a few days a week.

Drivers who rely on the M6 every single day have waited long enough.

Highways England blamed unforeseen circumstances for delaying waterproofing work on the ageing viaduct to December.

Walsall South MP Valerie Vaz called for a re-think to get the slip road re-open, and promised to raise it with a minister.

She said: "I am appalled that having raised this issue just after the slip road was due to be open in May that we are still waiting.

"It is unacceptable that with their expertise they were unable to foresee this situation.

"None of the people from Highways England I met actually live in the area and do not appreciate the difficulties my constituents have to face every day. I put forward some suggestions in relation to Junction 7 that should ease the situation and hope to get a positive response."

Wednesbury North Councillor Elaine Costigan said she was 'bitterly disappointed' by the latest delay.

Highways England project manager Jess Kenny said: "We understand this has been frustrating for drivers, but unfortunately, there was no way for us to tell the full extent of the damage until we'd already started work.

"We were only able to assess the true extent of the concrete damage and the steel corrosion inside the structure once we had removed the surface.

"While the amount of damage is roughly as much as we predicted, the most damaged areas are over the parts which carry the weight of the viaduct, which are crucial to the integrity of the bridge.

"So repairs have to be done with painstaking precision and care to prevent the bridge becoming weak."

The waterproofing work is being carried out between the M6 junction 8 at Walsall to the south and the M5 at West Bromwich.

The Junction 9 southbound slip road at Wednesbury has been closed since January, causing long tailbacks on connecting roads and neighbouring junctions.

Councillor Elaine Costigan said: "I'm bitterly disappointed that this has been going on so long."

Diversions will remain in place and Highways England has committed to managing traffic to retain as much access as possible.

During full closures of the M5 Western Arm southbound traffic will be diverted along the M6 to Junction 7 to access the M5 southbound eastern arm.

Diversions for the M6 Junction 9 southbound on-slip closure will be on the local road network to M5 Junction 1 and to M6 Junction 7.

Diversion routes are agreed with Walsall and Sandwell councils, and will be fully signed.