Swedish development group Skanska has won a £143 million contract to carry out major improvement works at one of the West Midlands' most notorious motorway junctions.
The company has been handed the brief by Highways England to deliver a new road scheme at junction six of the M42 in Solihull.
The junction is renowned for its traffic problems as it serves Birmingham Airport, the NEC complex, Resorts World Arena and the National Motorcycle Museum as well as connecting to the A45 Coventry Road.
First announced in 2016, the project will see a new 1.5-mile dual carriageway link road constructed to the west of Bickenhill between the A45 Clock Interchange and a new exit on the M42 south of junction six near Solihull Road.
This will allow access to the NEC and airport for vehicles travelling north only on the M42 after junction five (see map below).
As part of the wider scheme, there are also plans to improve traffic flow at the junction six roundabout with dedicated left turn links between the M42 and A45 at the NEC and the north east side of the roundabout.
Highways England will also be undertaking other improvement works to this roundabout, Clock Interchange and the section of the A45 between these two sites.
New local roads are also proposed around Catherine de Barnes Lane and St Peters Lane.
The £282 million, five-year project will be led by Skanska, working in collaboration with design partner Mott MacDonald and Highways England, with construction set to begin later this year.
Glennan Blackmore, highways director at Skanska, said: "This is the first ‘Regional Delivery Partnership' contract we've entered into and we are very excited to be working with Highways England to deliver this key upgrade.
"Highways England has been developing plans to improve this link for a long time and we are delighted to be helping them realise their ambition, which we hope will benefit the public enormously.
"We are looking forward to delivering this project and ensuring the safe and reliable operation of the road network, along with supporting economic growth in the area for our customer and the public."
Jonathan Pizzey, senior project manager at Highways England, added: "This is a major upgrade because the junction has almost reached capacity, causing severe congestion and delays across the network.
"Highways England's proposed improvement scheme would provide a comprehensive upgrade, allowing better movement of traffic on and off the A45, supporting access to the airport and preparing capacity for the new High Speed Two station."
