Bentley Interchange
Bentley Interchange | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
Bentley | |||
County | |||
Staffordshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
National Highways | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout Interchange | |||
Roads Joined | |||
M6, A454, B4464 | |||
Junctions related to the A454 | |||
Junctions related to the B4464 | |||
Bentley Interchange is junction 10 of the M6 motorway, forming a major access to the city of Wolverhampton and the large town of Walsall. It is a light-controlled roundabout junction, and featured the first ramp metering system in Great Britain, which was operational from 26 May 1986[1]. The roundabout is now so busy that it has been bypassed by left-turn filters on all entrances bar that from B4464. Work started in 2020 to replace the original straight bridges on the roundabout with wider curved ones.
On the M6, it is signed for both Wolverhampton (Cen & E) and Walsall.
Its name can be confused with Bentley Junction, which is just to the west on A454 Black Country Route.
History
The original route of A454 through the area ran slightly to the north of the present junction, along the line of B4464 before following the line of Wolverhampton Road West and Wolverhampton Road before proceeding along the present A454 line towards Walsall town centre.
Opened in 1966, the junction formed a temporary terminus for the M6 until the section towards junction 9 opened in 1968. The first phase continued a few hundred yards beyond the junction ready for completion. As originally constructed, the roundabout was an off-set shape in order to allow for the future construction of the Bilston Link Motorway, which was to improve access both into Wolverhampton city centre, and to act as a bypass for the town of Willenhall.
Whilst the Bilston Link Motorway remained unbuilt, the space was utilised in the late 1980s for a downgraded version called the Black Country Route which was allocated the A454 number with the original route of A454 at the junction being allocated the B4464 number. Access to B4464 west of the junction is restricted to bus traffic; other traffic must use A454 and exit at the first junction, Bentley Junction, to access B4464.
With the increasing load on the junction, there have been several proposals to improve the junction, usually by adding grade separation for traffic to continue along A454. This proposal is constricted by a lack of space on the western side of the junction, although there is sufficient space on the eastern side. These proposals have not progressed beyond the initial phases, although in 2015 it was announced that the capacity of the junction would be improved by replacement of the bridges over the motorway with wider ones, with work starting on the replacements in 2020.
An alternative layout planned in the late 1950s shows this design instead of the junction that was built.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
The NORTH WEST, Stafford, Telford (M54) | ||
The SOUTH, Birmingham | ||
W'hampton, Dudley (A463), Willenhall, Bilston | ||
Walsall, Cannock (A34), Brownhills (A452), Lichfield (A461), Walsall Manor Hospital | ||
no access from roundabout | ||
References
Links
legislation.gov.uk
National Highways
BBC News