News
Beechdale & New Invention residents to meet M6 boss at last
After months of night-time road works on the M6 hard shoulder running project, sleepless residents living nearby will at last have the chance to go head-to-head with Highways Agency Chief Executive Graham Dalton.
Families in Murdock Way on the Beechdale and in Wood Lane, New Invention have been demanding to see the highways boss to complain about the disruption and lack of consideration shown by the contractor, Carillion. Trees and fences acting as sound barriers between homes and the busiest motorway in Europe have been torn up without notice and the noise from overnight construction makes sleeping impossible.
The meeting takes place at Walsall Council House on Thursday 11 February at 2:00pm.
Highways Agency Regional Director, Tim Harbot, said: “Things haven’t gone as well as we would have liked and we are very sorry about that. We made mistakes and we have learned from them. These lessons will be a part of the national programme for motorways.”
However, on Tuesday it was reported that residents in the Hough Road area of Pleck discovered that fencing protecting them from M6 traffic and construction noise had been torn up without consultation or notice.
Closures on the M6 will continue over the next few months to remove old gantries, strengthen sections of the hard shoulder, create emergency refuge areas and install the new style gantries and signs.
Highways Agency Project Manager, Paul Unwin, said: “To ensure the safety of motorists and to minimise the impact on the 160,000 vehicles which use the M6 on a daily basis, works need to be undertaken at night when traffic is lightest.
“Night works in this area will continue over the coming weeks to remove old and install new overhead gantries. We are making every effort to avoid disturbance to nearby residents and continue to give advance notification of the works.
Hard shoulder strengthening, along with existing work to deliver hard shoulder running on the M6 between Junction 8 and J10A by spring 2011, means that there will be narrow lanes from Junction 8 to Junction 12 of the M6, with a 50mph speed limit in both directions.
Whilst this might improve conditions for motorists travelling through the West Midlands, it seems there will be more sleepless nights for the residents of Beechdale, New Invention and Pleck.