Drivers delivered an amazing snub to the city's new traffic-busting park and ride scheme today.
They were expected to use the scheme in their thousands as five months of roadworks began in Birmingham. But, at the height of todays rush-hour, the car parks at Star City, Nechells, where the scheme is based, were deserted.
The £175,000 scheme, promoted by Birmingham City Council as a major alternative for motorists normally using the Aston Expressway, was virtually ignored.
But many drivers may have been regretting giving the scheme the cold-shoulder as alternative routes into the city centre ground to a virtual standstill.
Drivers had been warned to plan alternative routes well in advance of massive repairs on the M6 and Aston Expressway which both started today.
The Expressway remained relatively clear, but some commuters were arriving in the city and telling of journey times which were more than doubled.
The A34 Birmingham Road was blocked as far back as Broadway - just outside Walsall - and traffic was only able to crawl to the M6 turn-off.
The work to repair the M6 surface began on the southbound carriageway, near junction eight, last month.
Today work started on the northbound carriageway between junctions five and six.
There will be no access onto the Aston Expressway from the motorway until September.
In addition to the motorway maintenance, Birmingham City Council has decided to resurface the M6 end of the A38 (M) Aston Expressway, which will completed in September 2004.
Two lanes will be kept open in both directions, though a speed limit of 40 mph will apply.
There will be no access from the Expressway and Salford Circus to the M6 southbound until November.
The Highways Agency said the decision to carry out all three projects at the same time will reduce the overall cost of the work.
It added that if the repairs took place one after another the delays would last ten months.
Share the stress! Have been stuck at the railway station for hours? Stranded at the bus stop? Snarled up in huge traffic queues? Here's your chance to share your travel hotspot and blackspot news. It's the messageboard for commuters to help each other get to where they want to get to. Like they say, it's good to talk!
