Motorists facing delays again as major roadworks get under way
Motorists in the Stourton, Wall Heath and Himley areas were facing delays again today after major roadworks in the area got under way.
Staffordshire County Council is carrying out works on two mile stretches of the A449 on the Stourbridge Road over the next two weeks, with 18 days allowed for the patching and re-painting.
The council today confirmed the schedule of the work, with the first part taking place on the the stretch from Doctors Lane at Lawnswood to the Stewponey Junction at Stourton, where it meets the A448 Bridgnorth Road.
Many motorists have been confused by signs which indicate both stretches will be closed for 18 days from today, with intermittent and temporary closures experienced over the last week.
But Staffordshire County Council confirmed today only the Bridgnorth Road to Lawnswood stretch would be closed today, and hopefully completed tomorrow.
A spokesman said: "We will then go onto the A449 Stourbridge Road tomorrow afternoon starting at the Penn Road roundabout. This site will be done in three sections and if all goes to plan completed by late Saturday.
"This is only for the first application, the second application should more or less mirror the above. Extra days have been allocated in case the work does over run so we are scheduling a period of 18 days in total for it."
They said work will start at 9.30am and finish at 3.30pm to avoid rush hour, before starting again at 6.30pm until late evening.
Staffordshire County Council cabinet member for highways David Williams said: "The proposed phased closures are part of our summer surface dressing works. Surface dressing prolongs the life of a road, and this treatment is all part of our £5 million investment in road repairs, on top of an extra £30 million investment in Staffordshire’s roads over the next two years.
Meanwhile further work got underway in Wolverhampton city centre outside the bus station today on the planned metro expansion, with narrow lanes and disruption expected until the end of tomorrow.
A spokesman for Midland Metro Alliance said the work will be short in duration, with temporary traffic management in place to allow continued road usage and it would take place between 9.30am and 3.30pm on Monday and Tuesday before driver testing on the new track begins.
