Question to the Department for Transport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the effectiveness of the Highways England road maintenance plan for the M54.

Highways England carry out a safety inspection of the M54 every 7 days to ensure the carriageway and physical infrastructure are in a safe condition for the travelling public. The condition of the road surface is inspected for safety defects at the same time and an additional comprehensive inspection is carried out annually. The results from these inspections are then reviewed by Highways England: if schemes are required for necessary improvements then these are designed and developed.

Highways England recently completed a resurfacing of the eastbound carriageway between junction 2 of the M54 and junction 10a of the M6 in May 2018. The westbound carriageway works for the same junctions were also completed in July.

Highways England have two schemes which are planned for the M54. M54 Junction 2 – Junction 3 barrier repairs are planned for later this year and M54 Junction 7, Wrong Way Driving Mitigation, is planned for early in 2019.

Highways England are currently developing their maintenance investment plan for the next financial year and any further improvements to the M54 will be announced in due course.