Major milestone for i54 site as new M54 bridge installed
Drivers using the M54 have been greeted by a new landmark after a bridge, linking the road to the new Jaguar engine factory, was swung into place in a major milestone for the development of the i54 site.
A section of the carriageway was closed over the weekend for a floodlit engineering operation that saw the single span of concrete lifted into position by crane.
The work was overseen by Staffordshire Council and follows months of roadworks along the M54, preparing the slip road element of the £36.7 million junction.
When it is completed and opened the bridge will give heavy goods traffic direct access to the new £500 million Jaguar Land Rover engine factory from the motorway – rather than having to use the already busy A449 Stafford Road and Wobaston Road.
It is not thought the bridge will be in use until September this year.
In the meantime Jaguar Land Rover is recruiting its first manufacturing workers and is installing production line equipment in the new factory, shipping it in using the existing road network.
The bridge will also benefit the other firms on the site, such as aerospace company Moog.
It is likely to make the i54 more attractive to other manufacturing businesses.
The bridge links the i54 directly to the eastbound carriageway of the M54.
Although the Jaguar Land Rover factory is still under construction it is believed it will be ready to start full scale production of its engines in 12 months' time.
This will coincide with the launch of the new Jaguar 'baby' saloon, a BMW 3-sized car which is currently still under wraps but due to go on sale in 2015.
