M54-M6/M6toll
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Safe roads, reliable journeys, informed travellers Link road route Public Consultation M54-M6/M6 Toll Options An executive agency of the Department for Transport 2 Introduction The Highways Agency is developing a new road scheme to provide an improved link between the M54 and the M6 north and M6 Toll. The current signed route for M54 traffic In addition, the scheme must provide good heading north uses the A449 from M54 value for money. junction 2 up to the A5, joining the M6 at junction 12. There is no signed route to We have developed three route options the M6 Toll from the M54. Traffic heading which meet community, investment and for the M6 north and the M6 Toll diverts at road users’ needs and would like your M54 junction 1 on to the A460, past the views on these proposed options. villages of Featherstone and Shareshill then through M6 junction 11. This causes Once the results of this route options delays, congestion and safety issues. consultation are known, we anticipate that the preferred route will be identified Improving the link between the M54 and and announced in early 2015. We will the M6 and M6 Toll will: then protect the route against other forms • Relieve traffic congestion on the of development taking place while more A460, A449 and A5 providing detailed design work is undertaken. more reliable journey times and making life easier and safer for This road project is classified by the businesses, commuters and Planning Act 2008 as a nationally local traffic. significant infrastructure project, which means that the Highways Agency is • Improve safety and reduce driver required to apply for a Development stress: keeping the right traffic Consent Order (DCO). We will hold a on the right roads, separating further consultation following preferred local community traffic from long route announcement before developing distance and business traffic. the design of the preferred option and • Reduce volumes of through traffic a DCO application is submitted. The in villages, particularly heavy Planning Inspectorate will then seek the goods vehicles, improving local views of the public before carrying out community access across the a detailed examination and advising busy road. Government on whether or not the scheme should proceed. • Create a better traffic flow and improve routes for east-west and north-south traffic, supporting local economic growth for Telford, Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Cannock and Tamworth. Key development sites are illustrated on the map on page 4 3 A518 A519 14 Stafford A51 A513 A518 Newport 13 Rugeley A34 A449 A460 A5 Cannock Lichfield A5 12 Norton A5 Canes 4 6 7 11a T7 Telford A449 T8 M6 Toll T6 3 11 2 A460 M54 Tamworth 1 2 10a 5 1 3 A452 A34 A461 A4124 A449 A41 A460 M6 A462 Walsall A454 A454 10 Wolverhampton A41 A4123 A459 9 A454 A449 Current signed route for M6(N) from M54 8 7 1 6 A449 2 7 1 A461 M5 3 4 5 4 Why do we need this scheme? Accident rates on the main routes used between the M6 and M54, the A449 and A460 through Featherstone are higher than the national average for these categories of road. Challenges for long distance and freight road users: • Motorway traffic is caught in, and contributes to, congestion at roundabouts, traffic lights and junctions along the A449, A5 and A460 resulting in delays and longer, less reliable journey times. • Long distance and local traffic is mixed, with conflicting priorities; local journeys with frequent On the A460 there are six junctions stops and making right turns into connecting to local roads within a short junctions and accesses impacts 1.5 mile (2.5km) length and numerous on traffic wanting to re-join the properties, businesses and field entrances motorway network quickly and which have direct access onto the road. smoothly. Additionally, traffic lights, pedestrian Challenges for local road users: crossings and bus stops designed to manage local traffic create conflicts • Additional freight and long between local needs and the distance traffic results in delays through movement of freight traffic. The and queues. A460 currently carries about 25,000 • High traffic flows on the A460 and vehicles per day with heavy good vehicles A449 make it more difficult to cross making up about 10% of this figure. these routes in a vehicle or as a pedestrian or cyclist. The A449 / A5 is the signed route to the M6 north with properties and field entrances • The high percentage of freight which have direct access onto the trunk traffic of up to 10% on the A460 road. The junction at Gailey roundabout between the M54 and M6 impacts has queues at peak periods. the local community with additional noise, congestion and disruption. 5 Option A JT8 M6toll M6 Mill Lane J11 SHARESHILL Brookfield Farm A460 M6 Hilton Lane Dark Lane FEATHERSTONE Hilton Hall Hilton Park services J1 M54 KEY: Alternative eastern or western route alignments J10a This option would provide a new road • We predict that Option A would between M54 junction 1 and M6 junction 11, reduce traffic on the A449, with all covering approximately 1.5 miles (2.5 km). long distance and freight traffic • The proposed route would bypass on the existing A460 through the villages of Featherstone and Featherstone moved onto the new Shareshill, and be sited to the west link road. of Hilton Hall. • There are two routes proposed for • There would be a single junction this option: eastern or western, on the new road to allow local and these are covered later. traffic to access the link road from Hilton Lane. • There would be no access from the existing A460 to M6 junction 11 on the west side of M6 as this would be removed to move through-traffic to the new road. There would be a new local access road built to Mill Lane for local residents. 6 Option B JT8 M6tollM6toll M6 Mill Lane J11 SHARESHILL Brookfield Farm A460 M6 Hilton Lane Dark Lane FEATHERSTONE Hilton Hall Hilton Park services J1 M54 KEY: Alternative eastern or western route alignments J10a This option would provide a new road • M6 junction 11 would be between M54 Junction 1 and the M6 and unchanged by this option with M6 Toll. local access to the M6 and • The link would follow the same M6 Toll remaining the same. route as Option A, bypassing • We predict that Option B would the villages of Featherstone and reduce traffic on the A449 with Shareshill, and be sited to the west traffic on the existing A460 through of Hilton Hall. Featherstone significantly reduced. • The new road would then link • There are two routes proposed for directly with the M6, north of this option: eastern or western, Junction 11 and with the and these are covered later. M6 Toll at Junction T8. This additional link to Junction T8 would be approximately 0.6 miles (1km), giving a total length of approximately 2.2 miles (3.5km). 7 Option C Saredon JT8 Road M6tollM6toll M6 Wolverhampton Road SHARESHILL Brookfield Farm A460 M6 Hilton Lane FEATHERSTONE Dark Lane Hilton Hall Hilton Park services J1 M54 KEY: Existing M54 and M6 improved J10a This option would widen the M54 from • M6 junction 11 would be Junction 1 to the M6, providing extra demolished and replaced by a capacity through an additional traffic lane new junction 11 further north, in each direction. linking to the M6 Toll junction T8. • New slip roads would be The distance travelled between constructed at M6 junction 10a to M54 junction 1 and M6 Toll junction provide links to and from the M6 T8 would be greater than Options north. A and B at 3.4 miles (5.5km). • The existing hard shoulder would • The A460 would cross the M6 be converted to a fourth traffic lane on a new bridge, linking in to between M6 junction 10a and 11. the A462 and Wolverhampton Road, with a new local road • Access roads to Hilton Park provided to Saredon Road for local Services would be modified as destinations north or east. part of the scheme and access to the services will be maintained • We predict that overall traffic throughout construction. reduction on the A460 through Featherstone would be lower than the other options. This is because the A460 will remain attractive to some road users primarily due to the longer distance covered by following Option C along the M54 to the M6. 8 Eastern or Western route SHARESHILL Brookfield Farm A460 Hilton Lane Dark Lane FEATHERSTONE Hilton Hall J1 M54 Both these proposed routes are being considered for Option A and Option B. We would welcome your local input and views on these routes. Western Route Eastern Route • The link road would cross Hilton Park • The link road would cross Hilton passing to the west of the ponds, Park passing between the ponds closer to Dark Lane, and to the east and to the east of Brookfields Farm of Brookfields Farm buildings. buildings. 9 The Environmental Impact We attach great importance to the environment and the route options developed minimise the environmental impact where possible. This plan maps out all the proposed route options and the important environmentally sensitive areas. A team of environmental specialists is will be sensitive to the local environment. working very closely with the design team Steps will also be taken to safeguard and is involved in all the key decisions. An water quality, local ecology and cultural environmental assessment will be carried heritage sites. out so that we can compare the effects that each option would have on the environment. As the scheme design develops further we 10 M6 toll JT8 J11 Shareshill Featherstone M54 J1 J10a M6 KEY Option A Option B Option C Public Rights of Way Listed Buildings Non-Statutory Ecological Sites Ancient Woodlands 11 12 Discounted options Rejected Options Reason for Rejection There are already significant delays on the existing routes during the peak hours, and these would be expected to increase significantly in future years, with traffic in England forecast to increase by 26% over the next 15 years.