The A519 at Cotes Heath is 10mph until about 23 October and the M6 shuts J15 to J16 overnight to 9 October. Creswell Grove closes at night from 19 October.
The A519 Newcastle Road at Cotes Heath and Mill Meece is now down to 10mph, under an order the county council made on 29 September, and the works are expected to run to about 23 October. On the motorway, the M6 between junctions 15 and 16, north of Stone, is shut overnight northbound on Tuesday 6 October and southbound on the three nights after.
The Stafford roadworks and travel picture for the fortnight ahead:
- Until about 23 October: the A519 at Cotes Heath and Mill Meece is cut to 10mph, on top of the temporary signals.
- Tuesday 6 October, 11pm to 6am: the M6 northbound is closed from junction 15 to junction 16.
- Wednesday 7, Thursday 8 and Friday 9 October, 9pm to 6am: the M6 southbound is closed from junction 16 to junction 15.
- Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 October, and Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 October: no trains between Stafford and Rugby via Nuneaton; replacement buses serve the Trent Valley stations.
- Monday to Thursday nights, until 16 October: A520 Radford Street in Stone is closed 7pm to 6am.
- From Saturday 17 October, three nights before 8 November: Baswich Lane in Stafford closes for asbestos removal at the railway bridge.
- Monday 19 October to 6am on Saturday 24 October, 10pm to 6am: A5013 Creswell Grove at M6 junction 14 is closed both ways overnight for resurfacing.
- Until 7 December: Woollaston Lane at Church Eaton is closed for water main renewal.
- Until 18 December: Bishton Lane at Little Haywood stays shut at its A51 junction.
Most day-to-day disruption is utility work rather than council schemes. Staffordshire County Council publishes a live roadworks map that shows both.
The M6: junction 15 to 16 shuts in both directions this week
National Highways’ seven day closure report, the edition covering Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October (last updated 5 October), has these closures on the motorway near Stafford from Tuesday:
| Night | Closure | Times |
|---|---|---|
| Tuesday 6 October | M6 northbound, junction 15 to junction 16 | 11pm to 6am |
| Tuesday 6 October | M6 northbound, junction 11 to junction 12 | 9pm to 6am |
| Wednesday 7 October | M6 southbound, junction 16 to junction 15 | 9pm to 6am |
| Wednesday 7 October | M6 northbound, junction 11 to junction 12 | 9pm to 6am |
| Thursday 8 October | M6 southbound, junction 16 to junction 15 | 9pm to 6am |
| Thursday 8 October | M6 northbound, junction 11 to junction 12 | 9pm to 6am |
| Friday 9 October | M6 southbound, junction 16 to junction 15 | 9pm to 6am |
Junction 15 is the Stoke and Newcastle-under-Lyme junction. Junction 16 is at Barthomley, outside the borough, so the closed stretch is north of Stone rather than inside it. National Highways describes the scheme as carriageway and lane closures for maintenance works in both directions between the two junctions, with the diversion “via National Highways network”, without naming the roads, so follow the signed route.
The southbound nights are the ones that matter for anyone coming home to Stafford or Stone from Crewe or Manchester late in the evening: from Wednesday to Friday the motorway is shut from 9pm, not 11pm.
The junction 11 to 12 northbound closure is Cannock to Gailey, about twelve miles south of the town and outside Stafford borough, but it is on the route plenty of Stafford drivers use home from the West Midlands. Its last night in this report is Thursday.
There is nothing booked at junctions 13 or 14 in this edition, and nothing near Stafford on Saturday 10 or Sunday 11 October. The report runs only to 11 October, so closures for the week after have not been published yet.
Trains: two weekends without the Trent Valley line
Network Rail is renewing track between Rugby and Stafford. On Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 October and Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 October, no trains run between Stafford and Rugby via Nuneaton.
- Avanti West Coast diverts three trains an hour via the West Midlands, and says journeys to and from London Euston will take longer.
- London Northwestern runs rail replacement buses between Rugby and Stafford, serving the Trent Valley stations, and points passengers to other services between Stafford and Crewe.
If you are going to London on either weekend, allow extra time and check the Stafford train times page and the operator’s journey planner on the day.
The A51 at Wolseley Bridge: lights until 20 November
The two overnight full closures of the A51 at Wolseley Bridge, on 22 and 23 September, have run. The road is on the temporary lights that have been there since July.
It is part of the Wolseley Canal Bridge refurbishment, a 1955 single-span filler beam structure getting a new vehicle restraint system and ground beam, deck re-waterproofing, parapet work and resurfacing.
The rest of that scheme runs on:
- Temporary traffic lights on the A51 until 20 November 2026.
- Bishton Lane fully closed until 18 December 2026, about 60 metres north from the A51 junction as far as the Wolseley Bridge Farm entrance. The diversion is via Bellamour Lane, turning east about 200 metres before the Bishton Lane junction, then right onto Bishton Lane. Reverse it from the south. Residents keep access.
The council still dates phase 2 to January 2028, subject to confirmation. That phase is concrete repairs needing a canal closure but no road closure.
What is closed right now
- A519 Newcastle Road, Cotes Heath and Mill Meece is at 10mph, with temporary signals, until about 23 October.
- M6 northbound, junction 15 to 16 is closed overnight on Tuesday 6 October, and the southbound carriageway on Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 October.
- A520 Radford Street, Stone is closed at night, Monday to Thursday, 7pm to 6am, until 16 October.
- A5013 Creswell Grove is one-way towards Stafford only, so you cannot reach Great Bridgeford this way from M6 junction 14.
- A51 at Wolseley Bridge is on temporary traffic lights until 20 November.
- Bishton Lane, Little Haywood is fully closed from the A51 junction, and stays shut until 18 December.
- Woollaston Lane, Church Eaton has been closed for water main renewal since 28 September, anticipated to finish by 7 December.
- Sandon Road has a road closure and multi-way temporary signals in place for the duration of its scheme.
- Hopton, a 7.5 tonne weight limit on Within Lane, Hopton Lane, Hopton Hall Lane and Willmore Hill Lane until about June 2027.
- Public Footpath No. 3, High Offley is closed for up to six months from 23 September because of a damaged footbridge. There is no alternative route.
The M6 southbound closures from junction 15 to 14 and the junction 13 slip closure at Dunston, which were on this page last week, have run, and neither is in the current report.
The schemes, and when they finish
Creswell Grove, A5013 at M6 junction 14: five night closures from 19 October
The biggest one for anyone using the motorway. New junctions and a widened A5013 Creswell Grove serving the Stafford Gate commercial development, plus a new puffin crossing, footway and cycleway improvements, drainage and utilities. Work started 5 May 2026 and runs about 39 weeks.
Creswell Grove itself is one-way, towards Stafford only. That means you cannot get from M6 junction 14 to Great Bridgeford this way.
New in the council’s 2 October update: the current phase, a new traffic lane on Creswell Grove west of junction 14, is nearly done, and its final resurfacing needs overnight closures of Creswell Grove in both directions:
- Monday 19 October, 10pm, to 6am on Tuesday 20 October: the first full closure, about 230 metres on the west side of junction 14.
- The nights of 20 to 23 October, 10pm to 6am, finishing at 6am on Saturday 24 October.
- During the day in that week, Creswell Grove reopens eastbound only, as now.
The council says it chose nights to cut disruption and to reduce the safety risk to traffic leaving the M6 northbound at junction 14. Its diversion maps are published as PDFs on the scheme page, one for the one-way closure and one for Eccleshall Road. The county’s notices published on 30 September carry the same work, wearing course and line marking, as an intended order from 19 to 23 October.
If that goes to plan, the one-way closure is due to be fully removed on the weekend of 31 October and 1 November, and two-way traffic returns to Creswell Grove.
Earlier versions of the scheme page spoke of reduced lanes on the junction 14 northbound exit slip and circulatory and one week of night works with that slip fully closed. The 2 October update does not repeat either, and we could not confirm today whether the lane reductions are still in place.
Phases 3 and 4 then move to A5013 Eccleshall Road from 18 November for about four weeks, under temporary traffic signals. About three weeks over Christmas have no traffic management at all. Phase 5 runs from 11 January 2027 for about three weeks, mostly at night, with Eccleshall Road closed at its access to the junction 14 circulatory. Traffic will still be able to turn from the circulatory into Eccleshall Road.
The contractor is Alto Construct. The scheme is paid for by the developer, Strawsons Holding Limited, not the county council.
Sandon Road, Stafford
The longest scheme. Three new priority junctions on Sandon Road, new footways, a 3 metre shared footway and cycleway, drainage, street lighting and utility diversions. The speed limit drops from the national limit to 30mph through the scheme, with a 40mph buffer on the approaches where needed. Work started 8 June 2026, runs about 11 months and finishes in summer 2027.
A road closure and multi-way temporary signals are in place for the duration. Phases 1 and 2 run June to November, phases 3 and 4 from November to completion. Night-time closures with diversions are planned for about two weeks towards the end of October, and again at the end of April, for surfacing. No dates for the October nights have been published yet: there is no Sandon Road order in the county’s notices up to 30 September, and the scheme page still gives only “towards the end of October”. Access to homes and businesses is maintained. It is a Section 278 agreement funded by Bloor Homes and delivered by Amey.
A temporary 7.5 tonne weight limit at Hopton, ordered on 1 September, keeps heavy traffic off the lanes while Sandon Road is realigned. It covers Within Lane, Hopton Lane, Hopton Hall Lane and Willmore Hill Lane. It came into force on 4 September 2026 and the council anticipates the works finishing by June 2027. If you drive anything over 7.5 tonnes through Hopton, that is nine months of detour, not a fortnight.
Radford Street, A520 in Stone: the last fortnight of night closures
A £680,000 structural maintenance scheme: replacing ironwork, repairing damaged kerbs and resurfacing the carriageway. It started 13 July 2026 and was billed at about 11 weeks.
Radford Street is closed between 7 September and 16 October, Monday to Thursday, 7pm to 6am, for resurfacing. No through traffic is permitted and a diversion is in place. Daytime access to homes and businesses is maintained. The council said it would advertise more detailed phasing as the works progress, so the pattern may not be identical every week.
A519 Newcastle Road, Cotes Heath: 10mph now in force
Investigatory works on the A519 started 6 August 2026 and were billed as about two months: carriageway coring, trial holes, laboratory testing and drainage and utility surveys along nearly two kilometres between Cotes Heath and Mill Meece.
The county council made the 10mph order on 29 September. It came into operation on Monday 5 October, for drainage investigation works the council anticipates finishing by 23 October. The order itself can stay in force for up to 18 months or until the works are done, whichever is earlier, so 23 October is an estimate, not a deadline. The scheme page has not been updated with the 10mph limit or the new end date; it still says only “approximately 2 months”.
The works feed into structural maintenance planned for the 2027/28 financial year. Temporary signals and speed restrictions stay in place throughout. There is no diversion, because access is maintained, so the effect is delay rather than a detour.
A518 Weston Road and A513 Beaconside
Not yet started. Phase 1 is planned for early 2027, carried out at night over about two weeks. It is part of Stafford’s Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan, aimed at the routes to Veritas Primary School and Weston Road High School. It brings:
- a 30mph limit on A518 Weston Road between the A513 junction and Blackheath Lane
- a 30mph limit on A513 Beaconside from the A518 junction to about 80 metres north-west of Gladstone Way
- a 30mph limit on Blackheath Lane along the frontage of Weston Road High School and Staffordshire University’s Centre for Health Innovation
- no waiting at any time on Weston Road between the A513 junction and the puffin crossing by Weston Road High School
- a ban on right turns out of Beaconside Health Centre onto the A518
- Keep Clear markings across the Veritas Primary entrance, no stopping Monday to Friday, 8am to 6.30pm
Phase 2 has two dates on the same page. The main text says it “will come forward at a later date”; the frequently asked questions still say “planned for early 2028”. Phase 2 is the new shared footway and cycleway between Barona Way and Veritas Primary Academy, and the crossing improvements. Treat 2028 as the council’s last firm word, not a commitment.
A34 town centre to Weeping Cross: finished, but not over
The A34 corridor scheme between Weeping Cross and the town centre is complete, apart from a small number of remedial works following the Stage 3 Road Safety Audit. It ran in eight phases from early June 2024 to March 2026 and covered Lichfield Road, North Walls, Queensville roundabout, Queensville, Radford Bank, Baswich Lane, Cannock Road and Weeping Cross.
There is a further phase booked that has had little attention. Phase 7b, the Bridge Street and Lichfield Road gyratory, is pencilled for construction 4 January to 26 February 2027, which the council marks as to be confirmed. It brings an upgraded pedestrian and cycle crossing, bus priority measures between St Leonard’s Avenue and Bridge Street, and a contra-flow cycle lane along White Lion Street. Existing parking bays stay. Temporary signals will stand in for the permanent ones during the traffic signal upgrade, with footway works under lane closures.
The smaller closures this week and next
The county council’s latest set of Stafford borough notices was published on 30 September. These are the ones still in force or still to come.
Still in force
| Road | Reason | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Newcastle Road, Cotes Heath and Mill Meece | 10mph limit, drainage investigation | 5 to about 23 October |
| Woollaston Lane, Church Eaton | Water main renewal | 28 September to 7 December |
| Within, Hopton, Hopton Hall and Willmore Hill lanes, Hopton | 7.5 tonne weight limit | 4 September to June 2027 |
Booked for October, seven days’ notice, so the dates can move
| Road | Reason | Dates |
|---|---|---|
| Horsley Road, Elford Heath | BT pole replacement | 6 October, one day |
| Marston Lane, Marston | BT poling | 6 October, one day |
| Doley Road, Copmere End | BT cabling | 6 to 13 October |
| Mere Rise and Sandy Lane, Offleyhay | BT cabling | 6 to 13 October |
| Mill Lane, Gnosall | New water connection | 7 to 9 October |
| Stowe Lane, Stowe by Chartley | Interim to permanent works | 7 to 10 October |
| Hyde Lea Bank, Hyde Lea | BT poling | 8 October, one day |
| Little Onn Road, Little Onn | Pole replacement | 8 October, one day |
| Brockton Road, Slindon | BT pole replacement | 9 October, one day |
| Hayes Bank, Cotwalton | Pole testing and cabling | 12 to 13 October |
| Nicholls Lane, Oulton | Pole and cabling | 12 to 13 October |
| Hilcote Lane, Sturbridge and Chebsey | Pole survey | 12 October, one day |
| Bickford Road, Whiston | Pole replacement | 14 October, one day |
| Baswich Lane, Stafford | Asbestos removal, railway bridge | 3 nights, 17 October to 8 November |
| A5013 Creswell Grove, Creswell | Wearing course and line marking, overnight | 19 to 23 October |
| Blurtons Lane, Eccleshall | BT cabling | 19 to 23 October |
| Hilcote Lane, Sturbridge | Underground cabling | 19 to 23 October |
| Cresswell Road, Hilderstone | Water main works | 19 to 21 October |
| Horsley Lane, Stafford | Overhead cabling | 19 to 28 October |
| Horsley Road, Elford Heath | Overhead cabling | 19 to 28 October |
| Church Eaton Road, Apeton | Overhead fibre cabling | 20 October, one day |
| A449 Wolverhampton Road, Gailey | Pole replacement, 40mph limit | 20 October, one day |
The Newcastle Road order, the first eight October entries and everything from 17 October on come from the notices published on 30 September; Woollaston Lane and the entries from Hyde Lea Bank to Bickford Road from the notices published on 23 September. Each entry links to its own access arrangements, timings and diversion. The Baswich Lane notice does not say which three nights; the one that will last is Woollaston Lane at Church Eaton, about ten weeks. The A449 at Gailey is a speed limit, not a closure.
One older M6 order still applies locally, and it is not one drivers need to worry about: National Highways has restricted the service road at the Doxey motorway depot, off the southbound carriageway south of junction 14, to authorised vehicles only, in force from 1 August 2026 until no later than 19 December 2027.
What is coming to Doxey Road
The county council lists the former Saint-Gobain site enabling works on Doxey Road among its scheduled schemes. About 15 acres of former industrial land needs remediating before anything can be built on it. Main works are now anticipated to start in spring 2027, subject to planning consent. A former garage building was demolished in December 2025 and trial excavation took place across three parts of the site in February 2026.
It is part of the Stafford Station Gateway project, backed by £20 million of government support, of which up to £16.5 million is allocated to the Doxey Road reclamation. No road closures or traffic management have been published yet. Worth watching if you use the Doxey Road long stay car park.
Parking in Stafford and Stone
Stafford Borough Council lists 12 car parks in Stafford and five in Stone. The two you are most likely to want in Stafford are the multi-storey in the middle of town and the long stay by the station.
| Stay | Waterfront multi-storey, South Walls | Doxey Road long stay |
|---|---|---|
| 1 hour | £1.30 | n/a |
| 2 hours | £2.30 | n/a |
| 3 hours | £3.40 | n/a |
| 4 hours | £4.00 | n/a |
| 5 hours | £4.50 | n/a |
| 6 hours | £6.00 | n/a |
| 8 hours | £7.00 | n/a |
| All day | £9.20 to closing | £4.80 for 24 hours |
| After 6pm, or all day Sunday | £1.20 | n/a |
| Spaces | 1,025 | 347 |
The Waterfront multi-storey is pay on foot and barrier controlled, so you pay for the time you actually used. It takes coins, notes, cards and contactless, and gives change. It opens 6.30am to midnight Monday to Saturday, 9am to midnight on Sunday and 8am to midnight on bank holidays. It is locked overnight, so move the car before closing time. The £1.20 evening and Sunday rate is the best value in town by a distance, and it applies all day every Sunday.
Doxey Road long stay, ST16 2TF, is the one that makes sense for a long day away. It is £4.80 for 24 hours, £9.40 for two days and £23.50 for the five-day maximum, for a walk of about ten minutes into town. It is free on Christmas Day and is pay-by-phone, code 59637. A Band C season ticket covering Doxey Road and Gaol Road is £53 a month, £144 for three months, £246 for six or £415 for a year.
One caution: Doxey Road sits low by the river and the council issues flooding warnings for it. If the Sow is high, park elsewhere.
In Stone, both town-centre car parks charge 90p for an hour, £1.40 for two hours and £2.60 for four. Crown Street has 89 spaces with a four-hour maximum stay. Christchurch Way, ST15 8GG, has 82 spaces and allows all day for £3.80. Both are £1.20 after 6pm and all day Sunday, and motorcycles park free in a designated bay.
Full detail is on our parking in Stafford page.
Two things Stafford does not have
There is no park and ride in Stafford borough, so there is no alternative to driving in from the villages other than the bus. And there is no direct train from Stone to London, which is why Stone traffic tends to end up on the A34 or at Stafford station anyway.
The routes worth knowing
- M6 junctions 13 and 14 are the borough’s two motorway accesses. Junction 14 is where the Creswell Grove works sit, with Creswell Grove itself shut overnight in both directions from 19 to 24 October. Junction 13 is Dunston, where the A449 meets the motorway.
- The A34 runs the length of the borough, Stone to Stafford to Cannock, and carries the traffic that does not want the motorway. The corridor scheme on it is finished, with the Bridge Street gyratory phase still to come in early 2027.
- The A449 is the parallel road between M6 junctions 12 and 13, running through Penkridge. It runs through Rising Brook and Rowley Bank on the way into Stafford. It drops to 40mph at Gailey for pole replacement on 20 October.
- The A51 links Stafford to Rugeley through Great Haywood and Little Haywood, past Shugborough. It is on temporary lights at Wolseley Bridge until 20 November.
- The A518 goes east to Uttoxeter and west to Newport. The A513 runs to Beaconside and the university.
- The A519 is the Eccleshall to Newcastle-under-Lyme road, on signals at Cotes Heath and at 10mph until about 23 October.
- The A520 is the Stone to Leek road, and Radford Street is the town-centre stretch of it.
What it means for you
If you commute north out of Eccleshall or Stone on the A519, budget extra time until about 23 October. Newcastle Road at Cotes Heath and Mill Meece is at 10mph on top of the temporary signals. There is no diversion, because access is kept open, so the cost is delay rather than a detour.
Five more to put in the diary:
- Wednesday 7 to Friday 9 October, from 9pm. The M6 southbound is shut from junction 16 to 15, so late drivers coming home from the north leave at junction 16 and follow the signed diversion.
- Saturday 10 to Sunday 11 and Saturday 17 to Sunday 18 October. No trains between Stafford and Rugby via Nuneaton; Avanti diverts via Birmingham and replacement buses cover the Trent Valley stations.
- Friday 16 October. The last booked week of Radford Street night closures in Stone ends.
- Monday 19 to Saturday 24 October, overnight. Creswell Grove at junction 14 is closed both ways from 10pm to 6am. Two-way traffic is due back on the weekend of 31 October.
- Late October. Sandon Road gets about two weeks of night closures for surfacing. No dates yet.
Sources
- National Highways road closure report, the edition covering Monday 5 to Sunday 11 October, last updated 5 October 2026, for the M6 junction 15 to 16 closures in both directions and the junction 11 to 12 northbound closures. Downloaded 6 October 2026. Also the M6 depot service road order.
- Staffordshire multiple road traffic notices, published 30 September 2026, Staffordshire Newsletter edition, for the A519 10mph order made on 29 September, the October closures from 6 October and the intended closures from 17 October, including Baswich Lane and Creswell Grove.
- Staffordshire multiple road traffic notices, published 23 September 2026, Staffordshire Newsletter edition, for Woollaston Lane, the High Offley footpath and the closures from 8 to 14 October.
- West Coast Main Line passengers urged to check before travelling in October, Network Rail, 15 September 2026, for the Rugby to Stafford weekends and the Avanti West Coast and London Northwestern arrangements.
- Roadworks in Stafford, Staffordshire County Council, and the individual scheme pages linked above, for all scheme dates, phases, closures and funding, including the Creswell Grove update of 2 October. Scheme pages re-read 6 October 2026; the Doxey Road page was last checked 30 September.
- Waterfront multi-storey car park, Doxey Road long stay car park, Crown Street, Stone and Christchurch Way, Stone, Stafford Borough Council, for tariffs, spaces and opening hours. Checked 5 September 2026.
- Car parking in Stafford and car parking in Stone, Stafford Borough Council, for the list of car parks.
Roadworks dates move. Check the county council’s live map before a journey that depends on one of these routes.
Have your say