Highways England M40/M42 Interchange Scheme – survey works update
M40/M42 Interchange: motorway upgrade survey works
The M40/M42 interchange is very important for local traffic and forms an important route for long-distance traffic travelling between London and Scotland. Congestion already occurs frequently at peak times at the interchange.
We’re upgrading the M40/M42 Interchange to reduce congestion and improve journey times. We’ll shortly start some overnight survey work to gather information to inform the final design of the scheme.
What are we doing?
Since November, we’ve been carrying out a number of different surveys between M42 J3 and 3a including checking drainage systems, existing buried services locations, drilling carriageway core samples and ecology inspections on both carriageways.
In the New Year, we’ll be starting work too on the M42 J3a link roads and will need to close them to carry out the surveys. During the closures, we’ll divert road users to the next junction to return straight back to continue their journey.
How will the survey work affect road users?
We’ll put the following closures in place overnight from 9pm to 6am:
M42 Northbound to M42 Northbound Link at J3a – January 5, 6, 7, 8 & 11
M42 Southbound to M42 Southbound Link at J3a – January 12, 13, 14,15 & 18
M40 Northbound to M42 Northbound Link at J3a – February 15, 16, 17, 18 &19
M42 Southbound to M40 Southbound Link at J3a – February 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26
In addition, we’ll continue our main carriageway surveys in the following locations:
· M42 J3a – M40 J16 from mid-January for 6 weeks
· M42 J3a – 4 from end-February for 6 weeks
To carry out the surveys safely, we’ll need to close some lanes overnight in 4km sections at a time. We will keep one lane open Monday to Saturday between 9pm and 6am.
Before any traffic management is put out we’ll carry out a ‘traffic count’ before any closures. If the traffic levels are too high, we will delay the work until traffic levels are suitable. Please note that we will not be working over the Christmas period, 18 December 2020 to 4 January 2021.
We’ll need some closures of the M42 and M40 slip roads in February 2021 for around six weeks and again in May for six weeks. We’ll update you on these when details are confirmed.
We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may cause. If you’re travelling through the area, please allow extra time for your journeys.
As we deliver this important road upgrade, we are conscious of the need to keep the region moving. We will coordinate our work with HS2 and the Commonwealth Games to minimise disruption to the network and we are currently finalising our work programme on this basis. We will deliver the main scheme by 2023-24.
If you would like more information about the scheme, contact me or visit our webpage:
www.highwaysengland.co.uk/our-work/west-midlands/m40-m42-interchange-smart-motorway/
Regards
Martin Phillips
Stakeholder Manager M40/M42 Interchange
SMP Alliance I Survey Site Compound, The Chestnuts, Beoley Ln, Beoley, Redditch, B98 9DP
Mobile: 07768 803909
Working in partnership with Highways England
Highways England customer service contact centre
0300 123 5000