West Bromwich Albion: Stadium traffic sees fans miss first half

Kathryn Seager said traffic was so bad, she recently missed the first half of a match

West Bromwich Albion fans say traffic around their stadium is so bad they often miss the start of home games.

Junction 1 of the M5 meets the A41 at a roundabout near The Hawthorns stadium and fans say it often gets "blocked".

One woman said she recently missed the entire first half and another sets off three hours early to avoid problems.

Sandwell Council said it was working to improve traffic flow in the short term and had sought government funds to rebuild the junction within 10 years.

Fan Kathryn Seager said although she usually tried to avoid the motorway, she had to use it one evening and ended up stuck for about two hours.

"So by the time we'd parked the car and walked to the ground we actually went through the turnstiles when it was half-time," she said.

She said the interchange near the stadium was often "blocked up" to the point where "nobody can get across".

"I know people the other night that got off the motorway at junction 1 and then just went home," she added.

The M5 meets the A41 at the West Bromwich Interchange

Supporter Sarah Kerton said she had often been stuck at the interchange for over an hour.

"It's got to the point now where I leave the house three hours before kick-off to make sure that I'm not getting caught in that traffic," she said.

Other fans have raised concerns that people could end up being "seriously hurt" if traffic flow was not improved.

The council said it was working with National Highways to improve congestion in the short term.

It said there had been changes to lane allocation and signal timings to increase capacity and it was analysing traffic distribution to identify other areas for improvement.

The local authority said it had also received government funding through the West Midlands Combined Authority to develop a project to rebuild the junction.

The club thanked Sandwell council and National Highways for listening to fans' concerns

The council said it was encouraging people to park further away and walk or use rail and tram services.

It also said it was working with police to help manage traffic and Transport for West Midlands to provide more public transport if possible.

The club's managing director Mark Miles thanked the council and National Highways "for listening to our concerns and acting on them".

He added: "By working closely together with the council we hope both the short and long-term solutions will ensure visitors can access The Hawthorns easily in the future."

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