A senior councillor has approved the next step for a multi-million pound major project to improve a notorious congested Solihull junction.

Improvements to the A45 Coventry Road, Damson Parkway and Terminal Road junction are much needed as it is vital to JLR and Birmingham Airport and currently offers poor facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

As the Local Democracy Reporting Service previously reported the West Midlands Combined Authority agreed to release £16.4 million grant funding for the scheme.

At a recent Solihull Council meeting officer Walter Bailey, group manager infrastructure and commissioning said: "The scheme is considered to be vital in relieving existing levels of congestion – it is one of the busiest across the borough.

"And improvement is needed to support the local economy, businesses, residents and to enable growth coming forward."

A public consultation held in 2021 showed 79 per cent of 200 questionnaire respondents either fully or partially support the scheme.

Among the works planned are:

• Additional straight-ahead lane on the A45 in the eastbound (towards the motorway) direction and additional right turn lane from Coventry Road into Damson Parkway – providing a total of five traffic lanes on the approach from Birmingham
• New bus lane on the eastbound approach into the junction to provide buses with free flow access to the junction
• Dualling of Damson Parkway between A45 Coventry Road and JLR Logistics Operations Centre access. This will complete the missing dual carriageway link in dual carriageway between Damson Lane and the A45
• Replacement of the substandard pedestrian footbridge over the A45 with toucan standard pedestrian and cycle crossing across three arms of the junction, which also help to improve access to the current bus stops and future sprint stops

At Councillor Ken Hawkins, the cabinet member for environment and infrastructure's decision session he called it "long awaited".

"This has been ongoing for a long time," he said.

"I have been quite critical of how long it takes to get approval for a lot of schemes from the WMCA and this is one of them."

Councillor Ben Groom asked who would pay if the scheme went above the £16.4 million.

The officer replied: "It is the council that would have the responsibility to meet any overspend."

Mr Bailey added it was considered a "high risk" but said they had spent a lot of time minimising and mitigating standard risks "as best we can".

Councillor Ade Adeyemo raised that work had started early but trees were being cleared during nesting season.

Councillor Hawkins said he took the decision to move ahead explaining: "I agreed work to clear some of the trees prior to formal approval.

"The alternative was we can't do anything until next year."

Before approving the spending and approving the appointment of Balfour Beatty as contractor the cabinet member added: "There are risks attached to it like any major scheme, there is a lot of money involved in this.

"We are not spending this money lightly."

The meeting was held virtually on March 19.