Telford MP backs link-road plans

Shaun Davies, MP for Telford, is urging the Government to back the plan for the proposed M54 to M6 link road.

 Mr Davies met with roads minister Lilian Greenwood to press the case for a new link between the M6 at Laney Green in Staffordshire to Junction 1 at Featherstone.

Mr Davies said the project, which is said would remove 19,000 vehicles a day driving through the villages of Featherstone and Shareshill, was crucial for the economic development of the region.

 He said the road, estimated to cost between £175 million and £200 million, would deliver significant economic benefits, generating between £555 million and £634 million. 

This made the project highly cost-effective and a clear win for local businesses and communities, he said.

Mr Davies said: "I have consistently advocated for the M54 to M6 link, both as the former Leader of Telford & Wrekin Council and now as the Member of Parliament for Telford. 

"It has the potential to reduce travel times, further strengthen the local economy and support not just out local businesses but regionally too. The M54 to M6 link road remains high on the agenda for me and I will continue to work with government ministers and colleagues to bring the project to fruition.”

Midlands Connect, a government-funded transport body, said the link road would lead to an 82 per cent drop in traffic along the bottleneck A460 Cannock Road through Shareshill and Featherstone.

At present, Cannock Road carries approximately 23,000 vehicles each day, 28 per cent of which are freight vehicles. 

If the proposed link road was built, the number would plummet to just 4,000 a day, the organisation claimed.

The research also showed that the road suffered significant delays in both directions at peak times, particularly for traffic travelling northbound, the worst being northbound between the Laney Green Interchange and the junction with the M6 Toll road.

It found that during the morning rush hour, average speeds fell to 39 mph below the Strategic Road Network average, and were 37mph slower during peak time in the evening.

Plans for the link road were approved by the previous government in 2022. But the new Labour government said last year that £2.9 billion of commitments made by the previous Conservative administration were 'unfunded', and instructed the Department for Transport to carry out a spending review.

Midlands Connect called on the new government to make the scheme a priority.

They plan is also backed by Sir Gavin Williamson, MP for Stone, Great Wyrley and Penkridge.

"This is desperately needed to ease congestion on the A460," he said.

"Residents in Featherstone and Shareshill continue to be short-changed and access is becoming increasingly difficult on local roads."

Swati Mittal of Midlands Connect said a new link road would also remove more than a million cars and lorries off other roads in Staffordshire.

"This can only be good for air quality and residents if we can move those cars, snarled up in traffic away from homes and housing estates onto a new, improved linked road that is free flowing,,” he said.