M54/M6 link road ‘will open before 2031’
A long-awaited £200m bypass connecting the M54 to the northbound M6 will be ready within the next five years, the government says.
The scheme, which will see a two-mile long bypass built to solve long-running traffic issues for northbound road users, was included in a list of 50 road transport projects set to receive support from the government last year.
Launching it’s £27bn third-round road investment strategy, known as RIS3, the government confirmed that ground work on the “crucial” scheme would both begin and end during the five year strategy period – meaning the road is expected to open to traffic by 2031 at the latest.
“The M54 to M6 Link Road in Staffordshire and M60 Simister Island in Greater Manchester will both start work in the period, as well as open to traffic before the end of the third road period. Both schemes are crucial in supporting economic growth across these areas for people and business,” the government’s strategy document says.
A link to the southbound carriageway has existed since the M54 first opened in 1983, but traffic heading north to Manchester and beyond is forced to use the 30mph A460 before joining the M6 at J11.
The road, which runs through the Staffordshire village of Featherstone, is heavily congested and plans to build a link road to bypass the area have been mooted since 2017.
Consent was granted for the link road in 2022 but immediately halted by then Transport Secretary Grant Schapps in 2022, ostensibly due to environmental concerns, before main contractor BAM Nuttall quit the scheme a year later.
The project finally got the go-ahead from the current government in 2025, and survey work on a finalised preferred route for the link road has been ongoing since the start of this year.
Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander told the House of Commons last week that the government’s road building strategy would deliver the “biggest overhaul to transport in a generation.”
“The roads which form our Strategic Road Network are the key economic arteries which keep people and goods moving throughout the country. Keeping them flowing supports mobility and jobs, and helps to boost essential sectors like manufacturing, construction and retail,” she said.
“The Strategic Road Network is a critical national asset, and our priority is to ensure that it remains a network which people and businesses can rely on for decades to come.
“Overall, RIS3 is expected to support tens of thousands of jobs, bolstering supply chains across the nation and helping British businesses.”
