New Willenhall cycle lane to cost taxpayers more than £5m

Works on the cycle lane started in April 2025

The full forecast cost of the new cycle lane in Willenhall has been revealed.

Taxpayers will foot the bill of £5,037,792 for the 1.2km segregated cycleway linking Pinson Road and Rose Hill.

The project was funded via the Active Travel Fund from the Department for Transport.

The figure follows a bill of £55,881 for a feasibility study before the project commenced.

Works on the cycle lane started in April 2025, one month after roadworks for the construction of the new railway station in Willenhall started – a project by Transport for West Midlands.

Doing the works simultaneously caused major upset among road users in Willenhall, and business owners in the town centre claimed they suffered hugely from reduced footfall.

Ward member for Willenhall South, Councillor Simran Cheema, had called for compensation for businesses affected by the nightmare roadworks.

Managing director at a solicitors on New Road, Tarik Rashid, said the works ‘impacted morale’ in the town.

Angling Direct manager, Dan Lee, also on New Road, described the roads as ‘horrendous’.

Shah Ali, owner of Bengal Relish on Bilston Street, said he didn’t know how his business ‘was going to survive’.

The new railway station opened earlier this month, and the cycle lane was due to be complete by the ‘end of March at the very latest’, according to the project’s construction manager.