£20m plan revealed to put road through Birchley Island
EXCLUSIVE by Lisa Wright. A traffic island in Sandwell used by around 92,000 drivers a day will be transformed under £20 million proposals, the Express & Star can reveal today.
Council bosses want to put a road through the middle of Birchley Island, close to junction two of the M5 at Oldbury, to ease traffic congestion.
Motorists are warned that the work on the island will cause disruption.
The plans would see the Wolverhampton Road run straight through the island, rather than around the traffic light-controlled junction.
Councillor Steve Eling, Sandwell's finance boss and deputy council leader, said today: "It would be converted into a 'hamburger' island, which is an island that has a road go through it so the Wolverhampton Road traffic would cut through the middle of the island rather than going through the island."
Councillor Eling said the council was at the bidding stage at the moment.
"It is an expensive job and could cost around £20million," he said.
"It is being looked at, the bid is in the process of being worked up. I have got to sign off our commitment to the bid this week, but that is right at the beginning of it."
Councillor Eling said if the bid was approved it could be two to three years before the work was completed.
The proposals come despite the island being overhauled in a £450,000 revamp just three years ago to make it appear more welcoming.
The transformation saw a 12ft tall and 36ft long Welcome To Sandwell steel sign installed on the island.
A total of 235 trees and more than 2,000 flowers and shrubs were planted, using more than 1,000 tons of soil, 300 tons of gravel and 400 tons of boulders. The island, one of the main gateways into the borough, is next to junction two of the M5, with 92,000 motorists passing each day.
"We have spruced it up to improve the environment around there, but it didn't do anything for the road layout and it still struggles with the volume of traffic so this would be a scheme that enhances the traffic capacity there," Councillor Eling added.
"It wouldn't be decided for a few years yet. This week what I am doing is approving our commitment to the design costs to move this forward to the full bid."
He added: "Obviously we hope that it works because it is a very busy junction that would benefit from being able to handle more traffic than it can at the moment.
"It is one of our biggest junctions in Sandwell and junction two of the M5 together with the main Wolverhampton Road and the road from Oldbury to Blackheath makes it a real major junction – the volume of traffic there is massive and at the busiest times the island still struggles to handle the volume."
Sandwell's roads boss Councillor Ian Jones said: "If this was to happen, there is likely to be some disruption.
"But I would urge motorists to be patient and bear with us because the ultimately aim is to improve the junction."
A £12.3m scheme to transform the notoriously gridlocked Burnt Tree Island on the Dudley and Sandwell border into a crossroads has already been completed.
