Work starting this month to demolish unused road bridge in Bilston

Work to demolish an old road bridge, which spans a small section of the West Midlands Metro tracks in Bilston, will begin later this month after City of Wolverhampton Council secured £1 million government funding.

Engineers will start work to take down the disused brick bridge in Arthur Street from Saturday, May 29 following the successful bid for funding from the Department of Transport.

An existing footbridge which was placed over the road bridge will also be refurbished as part of the improvement scheme.

During the works West Midlands Metro services between Wednesbury Parkway and Wolverhampton St George’s will be suspended from the start of service on Saturday, May 29 until the end of service on Sunday, June 6.

Tickets and passes will be accepted on National Express bus service 79 between West Bromwich and Wolverhampton and West Midlands Railway services between Birmingham and Wolverhampton. 

While the work is being carried out, the footbridge will be closed to the public and pedestrians will be diverted via The Crescent. The official diversion route will be clearly marked.

Demolition was agreed after routine inspections by the council revealed the brick bridge had deteriorated rapidly, posing a safety risk.

The old bridge structure will be removed and the newer footbridge that was placed over it will be refurbished, retaining the pedestrian access over the Metro line into Bilston town centre.

Ross Cook, Director for City Housing and Environment at City of Wolverhampton Council, said: “We will be carrying out essential work to remove an unsafe brick bridge and refurbish the modern footbridge.

“Our routine inspections revealed that the old bridge is crumbling and is in desperate need of replacement before it deteriorates any further.

“The works will affect West Midlands Metro services for a short period of time, but every effort is being made to minimise disruption. Passengers that are planning to use the tram are being advised to use West Midlands Railway or National Express service 79, along the section of the route that is affected.

“We are also aware that a number of people use the footbridge and we will make sure alternative routes for pedestrians are clearly marked.

“We have chosen to do these works during the half-term school holidays to help minimise disruption and we apologise for any inconvenience they may cause.”

City of Wolverhampton Council received funding to demolish the unsafe bridge last year as part of a £100million package being shared across the country.

For details of alternative bus and rail services during the works visit the West Midlands Metro website at https://westmidlandsmetro.com/using-the-metro/service-status/ or follow the twitter service information @WMmetro