Overnight M6 closure branded a disgrace

The M6 will be closed overnight this weekend, leading to 18-mile diversions on one of the busiest weekends of the year for holiday getaways.

Drivers were today warned of traffic delays as a 12-mile stretch of the motorway is shut for roadworks. Highways bosses' decision to close the motorway this weekend, when thousands of families are expected to set off on holiday after the schools break up, was today branded a "disgrace".

Road chiefs said today the southbound section of the M6 between Junction 11 at Cannock and Junction 7 at Great Barr will be shut from 10pm on Friday until 8am on Saturday and from 8pm on Saturday until 10am on Sunday.

From 10pm on Friday to 8am on Saturday the northbound link at M6 Junction 10A to the M54 west will also be closed. The northbound side of the M6 will stay open.

The work is being carried out as part of a £150 million project to open up the hard shoulder and impose variable speed limits. It will mean miles of detours.

Drivers will be sent along the A449 through Wolverhampton, back onto the A454 Willenhall Road through Walsall and onto the A34 and along the Birmingham Road before rejoining the M6 at Junction 7.

Highways Agency spokeswoman Hannah Brookes said: "We will be carrying out works overnight as traffic flows are lower.

"We are aware people will be heading off on holidays, but closures will not be put in place until traffic drops. The carriageway and slip roads could be reopened earlier than we are expecting."

Wolverhampton Councillor Milkinder Jaspal, a former transport chief, said it was bad planning.

He said: "This is a disgraceful thing to be doing on the weekend when so many people will be trying to get to the airport or make an early start to their journeys."

Black Country Chamber Transport Policy Group chairman Colin Leighfield said: "It still seems unreasonable to have closures on these dates unless there is some undeniable priority that we're not aware of."

By John Kirk