Road improvements could cost extra £7m - report

Birmingham City Council will meet on Tuesday to approve further funding to complete the project

Improvement work on a key road in Birmingham could end up costing £7m more than its original budget, a report has revealed.

Birmingham City Council has been working on the A457 Dudley Road project since 2020 in a bid to improve journey times and enhance public transport services.

New bus lanes and upgraded facilities for pedestrians and cyclists are being provided, but "emerging pressures" have forced the council to request an extra £2.5m of funding.

It brings the total forecast cost to complete the whole project to about £39.6m.

Improvement works have been ongoing on the A547 for a number of years

It comes after the authority announced in February it was planning to cut about £148m of spending, while increasing council tax by 7.49% in the coming financial year.

The council's cabinet previously approved the £32.1m original budget for the project in 2022 and then a revised budget of £37.1m a year later "to account for inflationary pressures and design changes".

Government-appointed commissioners, sent to oversee the crisis-hit council's recovery, said it was "disappointing" scheme bosses were now seeking a further £2.5m of funding.

The project has been supported by the Government's Levelling Up Fund.

Commissioners proposed the £2.5m shortfall is met from bus lane enforcement net surplus income.

The council said the revised budget in 2023 was approved to "accommodate wider unforeseen economic inflationary pressures and rising base energy, material and labour costs".

It went on to say that existing issues will be exacerbated if all four phases of the project are not completed.

Four phases

• Phase one: completed in July 2022: improved junction access to the Galliard and Soho Wharf development

• Phase two: completed in late summer 2024: new cycle facilities, footways and "highway realignment" to incorporate bus lanes

• Phase three ongoing: construction focusing on Lee Bridge and Icknield Port Road junction

• Phase four: plans to provide the "missing link" to the segregated cycleway on the frontage of City Hospital to the Birmingham Treatment Centre.

Ahead of a meeting on 29 April, the council's cabinet has been recommended to approve the £2.5m to complete phase four.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.