£16 million revamp backed for A454 Willenhall Road junction

Wolverhampton Council chiefs agreed to back the "ambitious" proposals for the Neachells Lane junction of the A454 Willenhall Road.

Now the authority is hoping to to bid for cash from the Government to help kick-start the scheme, with the funding open between 2025 and 2030.

The proposals are part of an overall £30 million project to revamp and regenerate the major route – which could see 8,000 homes built and 12,000 jobs created.

Councillor Steve Evans, cabinet member for city environment, said: "With it being a major route in and out of the city – it's a link to the M6 Junction 10 – there's a lot of heavy goods and traffic.

"I said before we can't just carry on the way we are – there's already bottlenecks and jams at peak times, in particular at Neachells Lane.

"So we embarked on an ambitious consultation, reliant on funding somewhere in the region of £30 million pounds, which we would have to secure from the Major Roads Network and the Local Enterprise Partnership.

"A total of 67 per cent of the feedback we received favoured option five which is a major re-working of Neachells Lane with a gyratory route."

How the new route would look

The other 33 per cent voted for a different option – a £6 million lane-widening project.

But Councillor Evans said the ambitious scheme needed more than a re-widening of roads to be suitable.

He added: "I don't believe, personally, that this other option would be the right one.

"This is a major re-design of the corridor and it's not something you can just widen the roads for.

"Over two-thirds were in favour of the major work, the gyratory work, if we secure the funding and we hope we will be considered for phase two funding from the Major Roads Network from 2025.

"It's a way off yet but this will allow us to bid for £30 million for work to be carried out over the three phases in keeping with our policies of regeneration and keeping traffic moving."