Council leaders in Shropshire and Staffordshire back M54/M6 link road plans

Five leaders from Shropshire Council, Telford & Wrekin Council, Staffordshire County Council, City of Stoke-on-Trent Council, and South Staffordshire Council have called for plans to construct a new road connecting Junction 1 of the M54 to Junction 11 of the M6 to be given the green light. 

Civic leaders from the councils have sent a letter to the Secretary of State for Transport, Heidi Alexander MP, asking her to visit the area to see what benefits the project could offer including taking traffic off congested existing roads.

Telford & Wrekin Council leader Lee Carter has thrown his weight behind plans and believes now is the time for action. 

He said: "This proposal has been milling around since 2014. It's time for action; approvals are in place and major work has already started on site. We know we can rely on a swift decision from government to make this scheme a priority in its spending review.

"Our partnership shows unwavering support for the project that even government-owned National Highways has said ‘will deliver economic growth, journey time savings and offers the best value for money to taxpayers’.

"We invite the Transport Secretary to visit so we can facilitate a speedy decision and unlock the obvious benefits for the Midlands."

Councillor Mark Deaville, cabinet member for highways at Staffordshire County Council, said: "The M54/M6 link will not only boost connectivity and economic growth in Staffordshire, it will also remove through traffic including HGVs from the local road network in the south of the county.

“This blights local communities, through both increased congestion and reduced air quality as well as being less efficient for businesses than a dedicated route."

“A link road would be a win for everyone, helping attract future investment, as well as supporting residents in Featherstone, Shareshill and surrounding areas.”

Midlands Connect - which researches, develops and progresses transport projects - claimed that a new direct connection between the motorways would remove more than a million cars and lorries from local roads.

The organisation added that it would improve connectivity, reduce congestion and emissions by diverting trucks from urban A-roads, and support long-term regional investment.

Midlands Connect sought the views of local businesses across the region late last year and concluded that they "agreed the environmental impact of taking trucks off urban A-roads and onto the motorway is the biggest win of the upgrade".

It claimed some businesses said colleagues had to leave an hour earlier due to backlogs.

Speaking after Midlands Connect claimed that the motorway link would remove thousands of vehicles from the A460 in Staffordshire, the organisation's integrated transport lead Swati Mittal said: "Our new data shows by delivering the M54/M6 link we can get over a million cars and lorries off other roads.

"This can only be good for air quality and residents if we can move those cars, snarled up in traffic away from homes and housing estates onto a new, improved linked road that is free-flowing."