Costs of M5 traffic island improvements increase by £4 million
The cost of long-awaited improvements to a major road junction in the Black Country is to increase to £30 million, councillors have been told.
The £4 million hike in the cost of Birchley traffic island, in Oldbury, comes after highway chiefs ditched a ‘hamburger-style’ design for a traditional, enlarged roundabout.
Councillor Jackie Taylor, cabinet member for sustainable transport, announced the changes at a meeting of Sandwell cabinet this week.
Saying its location next to junction 2 of the M5 required approval from Highways England, transport bosses said the proposed layout of the Wolverhampton Road running through the island could cause tailbacks.
“While the hamburger scheme would have improved the junction significantly, Highways England had some concerns about how the scheme would interact with the M5," said Councillor Taylor.
Conventional
“We have therefore reviewed the scheme with Highways England to ensure that it works in the best and safest way possible for both local road users and traffic using the M5.”
Saying the roundabout would now be a more conventional design she added it would still provide the traffic benefits of the original plan.
A report to the cabinet revealed the new budget for the improvements would be £30 million – up from £26 million in 2016 when the project was first approved.
Council’s funding of nearly £3 million will not increase and a bid for the extra will be submitted to the government.
Councillor Maira Crompton, deputy leader of the council, backed the new plans saying. “This is very important because when it eventually gets here it will improve the speed of that junction which is causing hold ups at the moment.”
Last month, Sandwell Council said it has been asked to submit a new business case to the Department of Transport but it still hoped the works would be completed by 2022.
