A38 Fradley to Barton combined work

We’re carrying out essential maintenance and repair work on the A38 between Fradley and Barton. Our work will include resurfacing, vegetation clearance, renewal of safety barriers, drainage systems, street lighting and road markings.

Start date February 2023
End date Autumn 2023
Cost £12.9 million
Alrewas

Latest updates

  • 22 September 2023

    An update to our programme of work

    We’re now approaching the end of our essential maintenance scheme along the A38 near Alrewas. Some carriageway closures will still be in place while we complete our work as well as to allow the safe removal of traffic management. Lane closures will also be in place while we upgrade the existing street lights to more modern LED lighting.

    From Monday 25 to Friday 29 September 2023, the A38 southbound will be closed overnight from 8pm to 6am between Branston and Hilliard's Cross junction. There will also be a single lane closure of the northbound carriageway.

    On Thursday 12 and Friday 13 October 2023 there will be overnight closures between 8pm and 6am of the A38 northbound between Hillard's Cross and Branston while we remove traffic management.

    From Monday 2 to Friday 6 October 2023 there will be single lane closures of the A38 in both directions between Hilliard's Cross and Branston while our teams upgrade carriageway lighting. Closures will take place overnight between 8pm and 6am.

    When the roads are closed, a clearly signed diversion route (shown below) will be in place which has been agreed with the local authority.

    A38 diversion map

    Access to homes, frontages and emergency services vehicles will be maintained throughout the work. However, there may be times when access is delayed for safety reasons, but we’ll make every effort to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

    We always aim to work to the programme, however these closures may be amended due to poor weather or operational reasons.

    For regular updates, sign up to our weekly A38 traffic management bulletin by emailing noreplyA38WMids@nationalhighways.co.uk

  • 11 July 2023

    Please check before you travel: upcoming weekend closures on the A38

    We’re now in our final phase of our essential maintenance scheme along the A38 near Alrewas. Our work includes targeted resurfacing, vegetation clearance, and the renewal of safety barriers, drainage systems, street lighting and road markings.

    From Monday 10 July to Wednesday 20 September 2023, there will be a 24/7 closure of Rykneld Street and Burton Road, and a 24/7 lane 1 closure of the A38 northbound to allow our teams to safely replace the central reservation barrier.

    We’ll also be working on the A38 northbound overnight between Hillards Cross and Alrewas from 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday.

    From 8pm on Friday 18 August to 6am on Monday 21 August there will be a weekend closures of the A38 northbound carriageway. Closures are as follows:

    • Overnight on Friday 18 August - between Hilliard's Cross and Branston
    • Overnight on Saturday 19 and Sunday 20 August - between Hilliard's Cross and Wychnor

    When the roads are closed, a clearly signed diversion route (shown below) will be in place which has been agreed with the local authority.

    A38 diversion map

    There will be some additional overnight closures on the southbound A38 to allow our teams to complete additional resurfacing and street lighting upgrades. We’ll provide further information once dates for this work have been confirmed.

    Access to homes, frontages and emergency services vehicles will be maintained throughout the work. However, there may be times when access is delayed for safety reasons, but we’ll make every effort to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

    We always aim to work to the programme, however these closures may be amended due to poor weather or operational reasons.

    For regular updates, sign up to our weekly A38 traffic management bulletin by emailing noreplyA38WMids@nationalhighways.co.uk

     

  • 04 July 2023

    Change to our programme of work

    To avoid returning in the near future and causing further disruption, we’ve made changes to our programme of work to combine further resurfacing work and street lighting upgrades within our current maintenance A38 maintenance scheme.  

    We've amended our phases of work as follows:

    Phase 2: Monday 8 May 2023 to Monday 14 August 2023

    We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. During this time, the A38 northbound will be closed between Hilliard’s Cross junction and Alrewas (A38/A513), including a southbound lane 2 closure.

    From Monday 10 July 2023, the A38 northbound closure will be extended so that is it closed between Hilliards Cross junction and Branston Junction, still including a southbound lane 2 closure.

    Phase 3: Monday 10 July 2023 to Wednesday 20 September 2023

    There will be a 24/7 closure of Rykneld Street and Burton Road, and a lane 1 closure of the A38 northbound. During this time, we’ll carry out daytime work, between 7am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. In this time, we’ll also work on the A38 northbound overnight between Alrewas and Branston junction from 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday. Phase 3 will also require three full weekend closures of the A38 northbound between Alrewas and Wychnor Bridges as follows:

    • from 8pm on Friday 21 July to 6am on Monday 24 July 2023
    • from 8pm on Friday 28 July to 6am on Monday 31 July 2023
    • from 8pm on Friday 18 August to 6am on Monday 21 August 2023

    When the roads are closed, a clearly signed diversion route (shown below) will be in place which has been agreed with the local authority.

    Diversion map for A38 north and south closures via the A5, A42 and A50

    Diversion route for A38 northbound traffic

    Traffic to take A38 south from Swinfen Interchange and join A5 eastbound from Weeford Interchange. Continue on the A5 to the M42 roundabout. At the roundabout, join the M42 at junction 10 heading north. Remain on M42/A42 as it merges with the M1 junction 23a. Traffic to exit M1 at junction 24 and head towards the A50 westbound. Remain on A50 to A38 Toyota Island.

    Diversion route for A38 southbound traffic

    Traffic to take A50 eastbound from Toyota Island and continue to M1 junction 24a. Head south on M1 to junction 23a and merge on to M42/A42. Remain on M42/A42 until reaching M42 junction 10 and take the exit. At the roundabout, join A5 westbound to Weeford Interchange and then continue north on A38 to Swinfen Interchange.

    During Phase 3, some overnight closures will be in place on the southbound A38 to allow our teams to complete additional resurfacing and street lighting upgrades. We’ll provide further information once dates for this work have been confirmed.

    The closures of Gorsal and Branston service roads planned for phase 4 in August were incorporated within phase 2 work and have been completed.

    Access to homes, frontages and emergency services vehicles will be maintained throughout the work. However, there may be times when access is delayed for safety reasons, but we’ll make every effort to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

    We always aim to work to the programme, however these closures may be amended due to poor weather or operational reasons.

  • 04 May 2023

    End of phase 1 and start of phase 2 work

    We’ve now completed our first phase of work along the A38 near Alrewas with the project now switching to the second phase from Tuesday 9 May 2023.

    During the first phase, work took place on the southbound side of the A38 and focused on the replacement of safety barriers as well as other maintenance including clearing gullies, road resurfacing, vegetation control and replacing signposts.

    Traffic management will now switch to the northbound carriageway for phase 2. We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday, from Tuesday 9 May to Tuesday 18 July 2023. During this time, the A38 northbound will be closed between Hilliard’s Cross junction and Alrewas (A38/A513), including a southbound lane 2 closure.

    When the roads are closed, a clearly signed diversion route (shown below) will be in place which has been agreed with the local authority.

    Diversion map for A38 north and south closures via the A5, A42 and A50

    A38 northbound traffic

    Traffic to take A38 south from Swinfen Interchange and join A5 eastbound from Weeford Interchange. Continue on the A5 to the M42 roundabout. At the roundabout, join the M42 at junction 10 heading north. Remain on M42/A42 as it merges with the M1 junction 23a. Traffic to exit M1 at junction 24 and head towards the A50 westbound. Remain on A50 to A38 Toyota Island.

    A38 southbound traffic

    Traffic to take A50 eastbound from Toyota Island and continue to M1 junction 24a. Head south on M1 to junction 23a and merge on to M42/A42. Remain on M42/A42 until reaching M42 junction 10 and take the exit. At the roundabout, join A5 westbound to Weeford Interchange and then continue north on A38 to Swinfen Interchange.

    The remaining phases are: 

    Phase 3: Monday 17 July to Wednesday 6 September:

    There will be a 24/7 closure of Rykneld Street and Burton Road, and a lane 1 closure of the A38 northbound. During this phase, we’ll carry out work between 7am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. We’ll also work on the A38 northbound overnight between Alrewas and Branston junction from 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday. Phase 3 will require three full weekend closures of the A38 northbound between Alrewas and Wychnor Bridges as follows:

    • From 8pm on Friday 28 July to 6am on Monday 31 July
    • From 8pm on Friday 4 August to 6am on Monday 7 August
    • From 8pm on Friday 11 August to 6am on Monday 14 August.

    Phase 4: Monday 7 August to Saturday 19 August

    We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. During this time, both Gorshall service road and Branston service road will be closed.

    Access to homes, frontages and emergency services vehicles will be maintained throughout the work. However, there may be times when access is delayed for safety reasons, but we’ll make every effort to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

    We always aim to work to the programme, however these closures may be amended due to poor weather or operational reasons.

  • 13 March 2023

    A38 slip road resurfacing work

    We’re bringing forward some of our essential maintenance work on the A38 near Lichfield, following the evaluation of our pre-start survey work and feedback from local residents.

    Resurfacing work on an area of the A38 slip road at Alrewas (shown in red below) was scheduled for later this summer however we’ll now be completing this work over two weekends this March through the following overnight closures:

    • Saturday 18 March (8pm to 6am)
    • Sunday 19 March (8pm to 6am)
    • Saturday 25 March (8pm to 6am)
    • Sunday 26 March (8pm to 6am)

    To allow us to complete this work safely, we’ll need to close the slip road which means:

    • access from the A38 northbound onto A513 and Rykneld Street will be closed.
    • access onto the A38 northbound, from A513 will be closed.
    • Rykneld Street and Burton Road can be accessed from Alrewas village, along either Wellfield Road or Main Street (shown in green below).(Please note that the weight limit through Alrewas remains in force).
    • access onto A38 northbound remains along Burton Road, from Main Street.

    A38 sliproad resurfacing work

    When the road is closed, clearly signed diversion routes will be in place. We apologise in advance for any inconvenience or disruption this work may cause.

  • 17 February 2023

    Preparation works and start of work

    We’re preparing to start our essential maintenance work on the A38 near Lichfield.

    From Monday 6 March 2023 to Saturday 6 May 2023, we’ll begin phase one of our work. The southbound carriageway will be closed overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday, between Branston junction and Hilliard’s Cross junction. There will also be overnight northbound lane 2 closures in place.

    To maintain the safety of motorists and our workforce, there will be a reduced speed limit of 40mph as well as speed enforcement in place. To allow us to install speed enforcement safely, the A38 northbound will be closed overnight between 8pm and 6am from Monday 27 February 2023 to Friday 3 March 2023. The installation of speed enforcement on the southbound carriageway will take place under the first week of phase one closures.

    When the roads are closed, a clearly signed diversion route (shown below) will be in place which has been agreed with the local authority.

    A38 diversion route

    A38 northbound traffic

    Traffic to take A38 south from Swinfen Interchange and join A5 eastbound from Weeford Interchange. Continue on the A5 to the M42 roundabout. At the roundabout, join the M42 at junction 10 heading north. Remain on M42/A42 as it merges with the M1 junction 23a. Traffic to exit M1 at junction 24 and head towards the A50 westbound. Remain on A50 to A38 Toyota Island.

    A38 southbound traffic

    Traffic to take A50 eastbound from Toyota Island and continue to M1 junction 24a. Head south on M1 to junction 23a and merge on to M42/A42. Remain on M42/A42 until reaching M42 junction 10 and take the exit. At the roundabout, join A5 westbound to Weeford Interchange and then continue north on A38 to Swinfen Interchange.

    Access to homes, frontages and emergency services vehicles will be maintained throughout the work. However, there may be times when access is delayed for safety reasons, but we’ll make every effort to ensure any delays are kept to a minimum.

    We always aim to work to the programme, however these closures may be amended due to poor weather or operational reasons.

  • 03 January 2023

    Phased schedule of works

    We’ll be carrying out essential maintenance work on the A38 between Fradley and Barton. Our work will include targeted resurfacing, vegetation clearance, renewal of safety barriers, drainage systems, street lighting and road markings.

    Our work is planned to start in Spring 2023, and we expect to complete by Autumn 2023. In order to minimise disruption, we will be carrying out work within phased closures of the A38 and service roads as follows.

    A38 programme of work

    Phase 1: Monday 6 March 2023 to Saturday 6 May 2023

    We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. During this time, the A38 southbound will be closed between Branston junction and Hilliard’s Cross junction, including a northbound lane 2 closure.

    Phase 2: Monday 8 May 2023 to Tuesday 18 July 2023

    We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. During this time, the A38 northbound will be closed between Hilliard’s Cross junction and Alrewas (A38/A513), including a southbound lane 2 closure.

    Phase 3: Monday 17 July 2023 to Wednesday 6 September 2023

    There will be a 24/7 closure of Rykneld Street and Burton Road, and a lane 1 closure of the A38 northbound. During this time, we’ll carry out daytime work, between 7am and 5pm, Monday to Friday. In this time, we’ll also work on the A38 northbound overnight between Alrewas and Branston junction from 8pm to 6am, Monday to Friday. Phase 3 will also require three full weekend closures of the A38 northbound between Alrewas and Wychnor Bridges as follows:

      • from 8pm on Friday 28 July 2023 to 6am on Monday 31 July 2023
      • from 8pm on Friday 4 August to 6am on Monday 7 August
      • from 8pm on Friday 11 August to 6am on Monday 14 August.

    Phase 4: Monday 7 August 2023 to Saturday 19 August 2023

    We’ll be working overnight between 8pm and 6am, Monday to Friday. During this time, both Gorshall service road and Branston service road will be closed.

    When the road is closed a clearly signed diversion route will be in place, as shown below. Please plan ahead and allow additional time for your journeys, considering alternative routes where possible.

    A38 diversion route

    Public engagement events

    We’ll be out and about in the local community to give local residents and stakeholders the opportunity to view our plans and speak directly to a member of our project and construction team about the work. We'll be bringing our engagement vehicle to the Alrewas Royal British Legion on:

    • Thursday 19 January 2023, from 11am to 7pm
    • Friday 20 January 2023, from 9am to 3pm

    For regular updates, sign up to our weekly A38 traffic management bulletin by emailing noreplyA38WMids@nationalhighways.co.uk. 

See more updates

Project information

Overview

We’ll be carrying out essential maintenance work on the A38 between Fradley and Barton. Our work will include targeted resurfacing, vegetation clearance, renewal of safety barriers, drainage systems, street lighting and road markings.

The completed work will provide a smoother, quieter road surface, better drainage and an overall safer road. This work is part of National Highways continuing investment in the strategic road network within Staffordshire.

Benefits of this scheme include:

  • Safer roads for motorists, cyclists, pedestrians, and equestrians.
  • Better drainage which will ensure safer driving conditions at all times.
  • Sections of newly resurfaced road which will provide a better running surface, whilst helping to reduce noise levels to those living in close proximity.
  • Upgraded safety barriers, ensuring we continue to provide a safer road for motorists and local residents. 

To help further, we’re also

  • Planting low lying sedum in the central reservation between Rykneld Street/Burton Road and the A38 northbound, reducing the need for grass cutting and additional traffic management at this location.
  • Replacing the cabling for street lighting will help to prevent any faults or outages. This will also help to maintain a well-lit area and provide a safe throughfare.
  • Working closely with the Local Authority to litter pick and sweep channel lines within the zone of the works

Documents

Traffic information

Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.

Contact us

0300 123 5000

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