Motorists to face two years of Oldbury road delays
Multi-million pound work to improve a major traffic island in the Black Country will take two years to complete causing major disruption for motorists, a report has revealed.
Sandwell Council are looking at options to revamp the busy Birchley Island in Oldbury, close to junction two of the M5.
The Express & Star revealed the authority was looking at running a road directly through the roundabout to ease congestion. However, a report has revealed that an alternative option being considered would see the island completely ripped out and a crossroads installed.
The council now plans to carry out a public consultation on the plans.
A report by Councillor Ian Jones, the borough's cabinet member for jobs and economy, which will be considered on August 19 states that if the scheme is approved in full, it is anticipated that a start on construction would be made in 2015/16 and take approximately 24 months to complete.
Councillor Jones said: "It would mean that there would be disruption while the improvement work is carried out, but it would then mean that you would expect the traffic flow from across the Black Country to improve."
The island is used by around 92,000 drivers a day and the improvement work has been highlighted as a priority – however, funding is not yet available.
The report adds that the scheme has been highlighted as a priority for the Black Country Strategic Transport Board.
As well as running a road through the island, other options being looked at to improve the junction include widening all approaches to Birchley Island and replacing the roundabout with two linked signal controlled crossroads.
Improvements to the junction are expected to cost around £7 million.
On August 19, Councillor Jones will be asked to authorise a public consultation on the options and then once the results of the consultation have been collected, a recommendation on the preferred option should be made.
