New Solihull motorway service station expected to attract 80,000 vehicles a week

Up to 80,000 vehicles a week are expected to use a £65 million motorway service station at Solihull – billed as one of the biggest boosts for the region’s transport network for nearly two decades.

It has been revealed, Solihull Services – located to the west of the M42 and south of Solihull Road – could be up and running in around two-and-a-half years.

The new complex, between junctions five and six of the M42, will create 300 new jobs and be the first new motorway service station to be opened in the West Midlands since Hopwood, near Bromsgrove, in 1999.

Motorway service station operators Extra MSA Group has submitted a planning application for the new site following public consultation in December 2014.

Andrew Long, Extra MSA Group chief executive, said: “We would anticipate a determination of the planning application towards the end of this year or the first quarter of 2016. If there is a positive determination by the end of this year or the beginning of next, there will be a building period of around 12 months.

“In an ideal world it could be open in two-and-a-half years.

“The need for this facility was first established in 2001. We believe that in an average week it would attract between 75,000 and 80,000 vehicles.

“That would make it one of the top four or five best-used motorway service areas in the UK. It will be the busiest and best-used service station in the West Midlands.

“These proposals reflect a new way of thinking and a new generation of motorway service areas.”

Mr Long said Extra MSA Group had made ‘significant amendments’ to the layout and design of the complex, with the main buildings repositioned and better assimilated into the surrounding area.

“It is now a much better relationship with the farmhouse building and the landscape. We have carefully listened to feedback from all parties involved in the public consultation and have appropriately revised our proposals in various areas to reflect their input.”

The group is also working with relevant parties to ensure a ‘good and regular daily bus service’ for employees, along Solihull Road and connecting to residential areas within the borough.

The service station will serve drivers travelling in both directions along the M42.

New slip roads and a connecting bridge will lead to a dedicated access road, which will pass under a new bridge beneath Solihull Road.

“The service area will meet an important safety and welfare need for motorists travelling through this part of the Midlands’ motorway network, bringing widespread social and economic benefits.”

Developers say the Solihull motorway service area will add the finishing touches to growth centred around the NEC, Birmingham Airport and Solihull.

A total of 20,000 leaflets were distributed to nearby homes outlining the proposals as part of December’s consultations.

The Solihull complex will be the 108th of its type in the UK, with Watford Gap the first to open in the late 1950s.

Read more: http://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/solihull-services-motorway-station-planned-9667126#ICID=FB-Birm-main