'The biggest car park in Europe': Councillors give M6 Junction 10 revamp the thumbs up
'Lets get on with it' - that's the message from councillors after major improvements to Junction 10 of the M6 were given the green light.
The mammoth multi-million pound project to ease congestion and improve safety on the busy junction was approved during a Walsall Council meeting last night.
It's hoped changes to the 50-year-old junction will improve highway capacity and reduce delays with two new widened bridges over the M6, improvements to the junction slip roads and modifications to adjacent local roads.
'Intelligent' traffic signals will also be installed to improve safety.
Councillor Mike Bird said: "This is the biggest car park in Europe at the moment.
"It is a very important project to Walsall and it is of equal importance to people who use the motorway. It is a great scheme for all those involved. Lets get on with it."
The new bridges will replace the current ones and will have four lanes, increasing the capacity from 8,000 to 10,500 vehicles an hour. The crossroads junction on the Black Country Route and the A454 at the turn off for Tempus Drive and Bloxwich Lane will also be widened.
The two-year £64.5 million scheme for the junction, where the motorway meets the Black Country Route and Wolverhampton Road, was first proposed in 2015 and is set to start in Summer 2019.
It is a joint venture between Walsall Council and Highways England, with support from the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership.
Highways England Project Manager, David Reed, said: “This decision marks a significant milestone and we look forward to continuing our work with Walsall Council to improve journeys for the thousands of motorists using Junction 10 each and every day.
The new junction will help facilitate growth at the Black Country Enterprise Zone in Darlaston and help deliver the Black Country’s long-term planning vision for the area.
The scheme will also improve accessibility for cyclists and pedestrians. The existing bridges will continue to be used while the new bridges are built.
