Major plans to demolish Dudley bus station and build interchange set to be backed
Major plans to demolish a bus station in the Black Country and build a £24 million transport interchange in its place look set to be rubber-stamped by chiefs.
Dudley bus station – understood to be the second busiest in the region pre-Covid – will make way for a new building to link bus and upcoming metro services.
The current station, described as being in a "poor condition" with "dated" shelters, is the oldest bus station in the West Midlands – having been built in 1986.
But it is set to be torn down under the plans alongside other buildings including the partly vacant Farmfoods under West Midlands Combined Authority plans.
The interchange will link with the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill metro extension, due to be finished at the end of 2023, which runs through Dudley town centre.
Councillor Simon Phipps, cabinet member for regeneration and enterprise, said: “The bus and tram interchange is a key part of our near £1 billion plans to regenerate the borough, and I am delighted to see it move a stage further along to becoming reality.
“Recent figures show Dudley bus station is one of the busiest in the West Midlands for passenger numbers. This development will ensure those who rely on public transport will have a state-of-the-art facility serving both buses and trams, alongside the eagerly awaited Midland Metro extension.”
A decision has been earmarked by chiefs at the planning committee at Dudley Council on September 12, with a report recommending the project is backed.
The facility will boast comfortable waiting areas, real-time travel information, cycle parking facilities, retail units and a “seamless link” between services.
Meanwhile a new car park would be built nearby on the site of a former photographic studio on Birmingham Street and its warehouse at the rear of Bourne Street, which will also be knocked down.
Marco Longhi, MP for Dudley North, said: "I'm delighted that, finally, we are seeing movement on the transport interchange. The £24m project is part a of a package of measures the Government has provided Dudley to level up opportunities for local people – and this is what it will do by providing much better connectivity across the region.
"This is exactly the type of opportunity that Dudley has missed out on in the past. But by joining up the metro extension to support access to the new Institute of Technology and Very Light Rail development we will see game-changing opportunities for everyone.
"However, there is so much more that we must do, the High Street and especially the top end of it needs radical change. I am doing everything I can to bring this to the attention of Ministers and encourage the council to bid for every possible pot of money, such as the Levelling Up funds, for the benefit of Dudley people and our town centre."
The current bus station has 19 covered bus stands and is served by 22 routes on a standard weekday, but is due to make way for a “roughly triangular building” with a split level – one to access the metro and another for buses.
Meanwhile road improvements will be made around Trindle Road and St Joseph Street while the way buses use the development will be altered.
“The vehicular circulation will be by way of drive-in reverse-out (DIRO) layout, rather than the drive through arrangement,” the report said.
“This means passengers can wait in safe and inviting environment, and do not need to cross the circulatory space to reach stops as they do at present. This layout is used in a number of locations across the Midlands including Telford, Shrewsbury, and Derby.”
Transport for West Midlands, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, is leading on the interchange project in partnership with Dudley Council. The majority of the funding is coming from the region’s Transforming Cities Fund allocation, topped up with contributions from the council and WMCA.
Outline planning permission for the scheme was granted in 2019, with the full planning application set to be decided at a meeting on September 12.
