HS2: Midlands set for a decade of disruption on its roads as high-speed rail project work starts

One stretch of road in Staffordshire will see the number of HGVs an hour increase by nearly 1,000 per cent.

Meanwhile more than a dozen lanes will be closed for years, bus routes diverted, and footpaths shut or moved.

And four borrow pits will be dug so aggregate can be excavated between Lichfield and Stafford as a result of the high-speed rail project.

Construction could get under way on the bulk of the line through Staffordshire in 2020 but some will start next year around Birmingham and Lichfield.

Work in the region is expected to last until 2027.

The disclosures come as bosses at the £55.7bn high-speed rail project confirmed the entire route would have no direct link to the Black Country, leaving political leaders in the Black Country asking: "What's in it for us?"

The Hybrid Bill for most of the Staffordshire stretch of the controversial line was presented to parliament this week.

Detailed assessments show thousands of construction lorries will be needed – with more than 1,000 trips alone to and from one planned site near Lichfield.

A stretch of the A515 Lichfield Road between Wood End Lane and Common Lane will see hourly lorry journeys increase from nine to 92 – an increase of 974.3 per cent.

While construction lorries on the already busy A513 Beaconside in Stafford will increase by 330 per cent eastbound by 2023 – up to 170 HGVs an hour at peak times from 40.

Construction lorries on the M6 will also increase by 14.9 per cent.

The high-speed rail line between Lichfield and Crewe, which will cut through Great Haywood, Ingestre, Hopton, Marston, and Yarlet as it skirts Stafford and Stone, will cost £3.5bn to build.

Passengers in the Black Country will be expected to make their way to Birmingham city centre to get a high-speed train or go to Stafford railway station where they can get an hourly service to London.

It comes just a week after Wolverhampton, Dudley, and Walsall were snubbed of any involvement in Birmingham's bid for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Mike Bird, the former leader of Walsall Council, said: "Once again a major development is bypassing the Black Country to the benefit of everyone else. We are second class citizens once again, it is very disappointing.

"There are those that back HS2 and those that do not and I am one of those who do not. I cannot see any benefit for the Black Country or for anyone really. I have never been convinced HS2's investment will be as lucrative as has been suggested.

"It seems to be set in stone now so the only benefit could be construction jobs being created. It is not a bad benefit but there are others who will get far more out of it than we will, such as Birmingham."

Bill Etheridge, a Dudley councillor and UKIP MEP, said: "HS2 has been yet another example, just like the Commonwealth Games, that this West Midlands Combined Authority has done absolutely nothing for the Black Country. We have been sold a kipper.

"There never was going to be any benefits for the Black Country and whatever little benefits there are will go to Birmingham. We were never going to get a look in on this, we have been betrayed."

Wendy Thompson, the Conservative opposition leader on Wolverhampton council, said: "We are not going to get the main benefits because we are not on the line.

"There will be great employment benefits for the Midlands, but not the Black Country."

And Sandwell councillor Yvonne Davies said: "From Sandwell's perspective we believe we are not going to get much out of it. We should be improving our transport and looking at how people get from A to B. I think HS2 will bring money to the Midlands but how much of it will come to the Black Country?"