Could this plan see an end to the M6 Junction 10 traffic nightmare?
A major transport scheme which should ease congestion and improve safety on a notorious stretch of the M6 in Walsall is likely to get the go ahead from councillors in December.
The £65 million overhaul should mean motorists enjoy a smoother drive around junction 10 of the motorway, which regularly snarls up at peak times.
Under the initial plans, which remain at the design stage, lanes going over the motorway will increase from two to four with bridges rebuilt.
Walsall Council bosses met to talk over progress last month. Preferred options for the project will be released over the next few months.
According to the authority's documents, senior councillors will be asked to give their approval for the scheme at the end of this year. The work will be taken alongside Highways England.
Highways England said planning permission is likely to be submitted by December and if all is approved and runs as hoped that construction should start by April 2019. It should fully reopen to traffic by late 2020.
There will also be some modification work to the Black Country Route, the A454.
Walsall Council's transport portfolio holder, Councillor Lee Jeavons, said: "Highways England and our highways engineers are working together to reduce congestion along this route by carrying out major improvements to junction 10 of the M6.
"The project will see new, widened bridges being built over the motorway, improvements to the motorway slip roads, installation of intelligent traffic signals, widening and modernisation of the nearby Bloxwich Lane junction and modification to the Black Country Route. These improvements will affect everybody that uses this busy area, from motorists getting to and from work, and businesses that need to transport their goods and services to the rest of the country."
The council and Highways England first held a public consultation in December 2015 to discuss options which could be considered for the junction 10 improvements and the nearby junction of Wolverhampton Road and Bloxwich Lane.
Another consultation period is set to take place in January 2017, run again by Walsall Council and Highways England.
And a Highways England spokesman said: "The M6 junction 10 currently experiences significant congestion and traffic delays, particularly during morning and evening peak times. Road capacity problems have been identified as one of the main transport issues facing the Black Country within the West Midlands Local Transport Plan. Highways England is working collaboratively with Walsall Council to deliver the scheme within the current budget and to meet commitments made in our Delivery Plan and Walsall Council's major transport scheme priorities for the period 2015-19."
