M6 works will start a year early
A multi-million pound project to open up the hard shoulder to traffic on the M6 in Staffordshire in a bid to combat congestion will start up to a year earlier than originally planned, it was announced today.
Work on the 9.6-mile scheme between junction 10a at Wolverhampton and 13 near Stafford is now expected to take place in the 2013/14 financial year rather than 2014/15 and will be finished by spring of 2015.
The latest cost estimate for the project is between £140 million and £201m.
Cars will be able to use the hard shoulder during busy periods while variable speed limits will be displayed on overhead gantries.
Work is currently taking place on a similar £126m scheme to open up the hard shoulder between junctions eight at West Bromwich and five at Castle Bromwich.
It is one of three upgrades to motorways being accelerated by transport secretary Patrick McLoughlin.
The others are the M3 in Surrey and the M1 in Derbyshire.
Gavin Williamson, MP for South Staffordshire, said: "This is a very welcome move to alleviate congestion in a bottleneck on the motorway network.
"I believe it will be supported by residents and businesses alike."
