Dudley bus and tram Interchange cost rises to £20 million
The cost of a long-awaited revamp of Dudley bus station has risen by £2 million, it has emerged.
The Dudley Interchange project, which will connect the bus station with Midland Metro services when they arrive in the town, will now cost £20m.
Council bosses have put the rise down to "unforeseen costs". The authority has committed £3m to the transport scheme but will now have to put up an extra £600,000.
Transport for West Midlands is putting £10m towards the Interchange while is hoped the remaining £7m will come from the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership.
The delivery of the Interchange will be the biggest transport project in Dudley for years, bringing a major boost to the town. The ageing bus station has long been in need of an overhaul, while Metro services are expected to begin running in Dudley from 2023 as part of an extension of the line to Brierley Hill. Early work on the Metro line is under way.
But a new report revealed costs had gone up.
Council leader Patrick Harley said the increased cost of the project did not come as a major surprise to him.
He said: "When you put a project into a report normally the first figure, a lot of it is guesswork and you go on how much the same sort of project has cost other authorities.
"But when you get down to the nitty gritty with contracts that's when costs start going up. A lot of these projects start at £10m and then they add another million at some point."
The report said: "The capital programme currently includes a £3m contribution to assist Transport for the West Midlands (TfWM) in the delivery of a new Transport Interchange linking bus and metro as well as assisting the efficient working of Dudley town centre when the Interchange and Metro are complete. As a result of unforeseen costs an additional £600,000 of expenditure is now required by the Council to deliver these objectives.
Council leader Patrick Harley reiterated his desire to see work on the Interchange start as soon as possible in order to be ready for when tram services arrive.
The Interchange is among a series of changes planned for Dudley town centre, which also include the demolition of the eyesore Cavendish House office block to make way for a new £80m housing and retail development.
Councillor Harley said: "We have started work on the Metro and Cavendish House so we have got to get cracking. I would like the Interchange up and running before the Metro."
