Highways Agency agrees measures to reduce impact of M6 gantry signs on local residents
This week, the Highways Agency will begin work to reduce the visual impact of gantry signs on residents who live next to the M6 at Junction 10 (Walsall).
The Agency, together with its design and construction partners have been investigating ways to reduce the visual impact of the signs which will attach to the gantries on the M6 and have assured residents that one sign can be reduced by over three metres and another will no longer be installed.
The current steel signage frame on the gantry will be removed on Thursday night, and a new smaller sign will be repositioned on the front of the gantry at a later date. The overall reduction in height will be 3.5m (11 feet 6 inches).
On the other gantry in the vicinity of Murdock Way, while the electronic signs are still required the Agency has agreed not to install a directional sign, to further reduce the visual impact of this scheme on local residents.
The electronic signs, the gantries themselves and the one directional sign which will remain cannot be removed as they are essential for the safety of road users during the operation of Managed Motorways.
Paul Unwin, Senior Project Manager for the Birmingham Box Managed Motorway scheme said:
“We have listened to all of the concerns from local residents and are taking action where we are able to do so. By reducing the size of one sign, and not installing another we have made changes which will minimise the visual impact on residents while ensuring the safety of road users is not affected.
“Our new design would not be appropriate for all gantries but is a specific solution to the concerns being raised by our neighbours on this scheme. We will continue to liaise with residents while this important work continues and have notified them of the overnight work on Thursday.
"The introduction of Managed Motorways on the M6 will improve the journeys of 160,000 road users every day and support the regional economy, by using variable speed limits to manage the flow of traffic and opening up the hard shoulder as a running lane to provide additional capacity when required.”
The work on the M6 is part of the Birmingham Box Managed Motorways programme which is due for completion in spring 2011. Once complete, it will enable the hard shoulder to be opened to traffic during busy times between Junction 8 (Rayhall) and 10A (M54), reducing congestion on one of the busiest stretches of motorway in England.
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