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Home Construction Castle Hill set to reopen to two-way traffic from Monday following completion...

Castle Hill set to reopen to two-way traffic from Monday following completion of extension works

Two-way traffic will return to Castle Hill in Dudley town centre from Monday (23 January) following the completion of main works in this area for the first phase of the Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension.

The Midland Metro Alliance, working on behalf of Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), has been carrying out work on Castle Hill since early 2019; first to upgrade and divert buried utilities in the area, which was completed in summer 2019, before returning in the spring of 2020 to construct track bed, lay tram tracks, and improve the street scene with a refreshed look and feel.

Following the road fully re-opening, there will be temporary overnight lane restrictions for inbound traffic for approximately two weeks to allow the construction team to safely install new street furniture. These restrictions will begin by 7:45pm each evening until approximately 6:00am the following morning. The activity has been planned in this way to reduce the impact on those travelling during peak daytime hours, and is expected to be completed by Friday 10 February 2023.

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Councillor David Stanley, Dudley Council Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Enterprise, said: “The Metro will have a massive positive impact on Dudley and it’s fantastic that the works here are almost finished with those using the area being able to use the road in both directions again during day-time hours from Monday and at any time of the day or night in just a few weeks.”

Tom Maplethorpe, Project Director at Midland Metro Alliance, added: “It’s great that most of our activity on Castle Hill is completed and, for the majority of road users, our impact on travelling through the area will be minimised from next week. We thank locals for their patience and understanding during the period which we’ve been working in Dudley town centre.”

As construction on the project continues to progress, further traffic changes will be implemented to the bus lane on Kings Street and a section of Birmingham Street, between Hall Street and Fisher Street, which will close in line with the completed design of the Metro scheme from Monday 13 February.

This will allow for the removal of traffic islands, the upgrade and diversion of utilities and the installation of new kerb lines, ahead of track being laid later in the year. Motorists are advised to plan their journeys ahead using real-time information and live updates provided by West Midlands Roads.

The Wednesbury to Brierley Hill Metro extension will boost public transport in the Black Country, providing much-needed links to the existing heavy and light rail networks, and helping to connect people to education, training and career opportunities further afield in the West Midlands. When the route opens to the public in late 2024, an additional nine stops will be added to the West Midlands Metro network linking people in Dudley town centre to both Birmingham and Wolverhampton.

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