200 schemes planned for busiest roads

Almost 200 improvement schemes will be carried out on some of the busiest roads in the West Midlands over the next 12 months.

A £116 million budget has been set aside for improvements on motorways and main A roads around the region in this financial year. A total of 188 roadwork projects have been planned.

These include just under 40 on the M6, 25 on the M5 and several on the A5, up until next April. Some have already been completed with scores more earmarked over the next seven months.

The schemes mainly include resurfacing and also upgrading safety signs and cable renewals.

The investment is separate to the managed motorways scheme being carried out on the M6 between junctions five and seven.

Among the projects is resurfacing work along the A449 from Brewood to the A5 at Gailey, cable renewal along the M6 from junction 10 for Walsall to 10A for Essington and repairs to the Oldbury viaduct on the M5.

Andy Butterfield, for Highways Agency, said: "The West Midlands is the hub of England's strategic road network, with some of the busiest motorways and trunk roads in the country.

"It's essential that we keep these vital roads maintained in a safe and serviceable condition to keep transport moving.

"We will continue our challenging programme of improvements to maintain the 932 miles of strategic road network in the region."

Work to open up the next section of the hard shoulder to traffic between Great Barr and Birmingham is under way and should be finished in autumn 2013.

Work to create a fourth lane on a stretch from junction 10a for the M54 to 13 at Stafford will start in 2014.