§ Mr. BevanTo ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he will announce the conclusions of the review of the black country spine road.
§ Mr. ChopeI have today invited the Black Country development corporation, in co-operation with the metropolitan borough of Sandwell, to take forward a modified scheme for a spine road in the black country.
A halt was called to the previous proposals when the costs escalated last year and a review was carried out. That review showed that any scheme in this part of the black 230W country would be very expensive and the original scheme had to be scaled down in order to get a scheme that was affordable and a worthwhile investment.
The scheme now proposed will be a dual carriageway road from Carters green to Sandwell 2000 with junctions at ground level at an estimated cost of £93 million. It will open up access to the key development sites in the area of the Black Country development corporation. In particular it will provide access from the south to Sandwell 2000 and creates the potential for bringing £540 million of new investment and 17,000 jobs to the black country.