Warning that Dudley cannot cope with Metro and interchange being built at same time

Trade is suffering over the disruption and traffic jams around Castle Hill, where tram tracks began being laid last March after months of roadworks replacing utility pipes.

Councillors sitting on the West Midlands Comined Authority transport delivery committee were told starting the new Dudley Bus Interchange would cause chaos in the town.

Gornal councillor David Stanley raised his concerns at the transport delivery committee.

He said: "What is concerning me is the length of time it is take for the Metro on Castle Hill, after seeing all the destruction of Dudley town centre

"I would hate to see both these projects being done at the same time; Castle Hill being partly used because of the Metro and the building of the new bus interchange and all that comes with diverting all the buses.

"Dudley is tight anyway and these are projects are next to each other."

"Work is not progressing on the Metro as fast as I thought, I was up there the other week to look what it was like and it not had seemed to move at all since last month.

"What I am worried about is the trade in the town, a lot of them are suffering at the moment because of how hard it is to get into the town."

Director of development and delivery, Sandeep Shingadia, said: "There is a lot of work done with the Metro to minimise the impact on the public highways.

"We will also with network resilience to mitigate any effects of Dudley Interchange itself."

The new £24 million Dudley Interchange will replace the bus station and will include tram and bus stops. Both the Metro and the interchange are supposed to be finished in 2023.

A lead contractor has been picked to build the project and they are currently working with Dudley Council and the Combined Authority.