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HS2 in Solihull – Key information
Find all our HS2 information for Solihull in one place. This includes community updates, newsletters and construction look-aheads.
Construction look aheads
These look aheads provide you with information about HS2 works and developments taking place in Solihull.
Newsletters
This section provides you with information about HS2 works and developments taking place in Solihull, and how we’re managing the impacts of construction.
Local road network improvements
Four road bridges will connect the new road network with existing routes.
We installed the first bridge – a 65-metre structure spanning the M42 – in August 2020. We completed the work during a weekend closure of the M42 between junctions 6 and 7 in both directions on Saturday 8 August 2020. Careful planning meant we reopened the motorway 22 hours ahead of schedule.
We installed a second bridge over the A446 in October 2020 during a weekend closure along sections of the A452 Chester Road (northbound) and A446 Stonebridge Road (northbound and southbound) between Stonebridge Island and M6 junction 4. We reopened the network 24 hours ahead of schedule.
We’ve built two more bridges on HS2 land to take traffic over the future railway route. These bridges are surrounded by the A452, A45 and M42.
Connecting the new road network with existing routes
LM worked in the Interchange area until summer 2022, improving the existing network and creating new routes on HS2 land west of the M42. Work sites in the area were gradually passed to BBV. This handover was needed because each contractor was building and connecting different parts of the road network.
LM carried out weekend road closures to connect parts of the existing network to the new routes. They also installed new pedestrian footpaths, kerb lines and central reservations.
A new T-junction replaced Northway Island, which is located over the M42. A new ‘longabout’ is now in use outside the Holiday Inn Express NEC, on the way to the National Exhibition Centre. You can now access all routes east of the motorway by using our road bridge over the M42.
We started creating the new T-junction in April 2021. To progress this work, the direction of travel for road users around Northway Island changed permanently. Depending on your direction of travel, you may be redirected from the island, along a short section of the B4438, and back. Direction of travel along the B4438, A452 and Northway did not change. You can still access all routes in the area.
Since mid-2021, BBV has been improving the remainder of the network east of the M42. This work is mainly on HS2 land. BBV is now working along Coleshill Heath Road to progress other elements of building the railway.