The £49.7m A38 scheme was meant to finish this year. The council's July programme runs into spring 2027. Every closure booked for August, plus parking costs.
If you drive in Bromsgrove, one scheme explains most of what you have sat in. The A38 Bromsgrove Route Enhancement Programme, or BREP, is a £49.7 million rebuild of the road that carries traffic round the town, and its third phase has been in delivery since 2025.
The headline for anyone planning around it: Worcestershire County Council’s own frequently asked questions still say phase 3 is “due to complete by end of 2026”, but the programme page the council updated in July 2026 says some activities will continue into spring 2027. If you have been assuming the cones go away at Christmas, the council’s own newer document does not say that.
What is being built, and what it costs
BREP phase 3 covers the A38 between junction 4 of the M5 in the north and the A38 junction with the B4094 in the south. It is junction capacity work, localised widening, new crossings, bus priority and an active travel route between the railway station and the town centre. Colas is the main contractor, working with Griffiths and Journeo Passenger Systems.
| Item | Amount |
|---|---|
| Department for Transport | £43,164,981 |
| Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership | £1,317,293 |
| Developer contributions (section 106) | £5,216,238 |
| Total programme | £49,698,512 |
| Spent to the end of July 2026 | £34,666,977 |
Roughly £1 in every £10 of the programme is developer money, which is the practical link between the roadworks and the housing debate: the junctions are being enlarged partly because more homes are coming, and some of the homes are paying for it.
The council is candid about why the dates have moved. Its July update blames “further diversion works required of gas, water and electricity services due to inaccurate utility location records”, and says the timing of those sits with the utility companies rather than with the highway contractor. The next programme update is promised for October 2026.
What is closed this month
These are the works Worcestershire County Council has published on its A38 programme page. “Planned” means a traffic management permit has been granted; “proposed” means it is still subject to permits, weather and the utility companies.
| Location | Dates | Traffic management | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Regents Park Road and Abbey Close | 5 to 7 August | Weekday off-peak three-way lights | Ongoing |
| A38, New Road junction to Oakalls roundabout | 6 August | Weekday off-peak two-way lights | Planned |
| Regents Park Road and Abbey Close | 7 to 9 August | Weekend night closures | Planned |
| A38, New Road junction to Oakalls roundabout | 10 to 15 August | Weeknight closures | Planned |
| Buntsford Drive | 17 to 19 August | Weekday off-peak three-way lights | Planned |
| A38, Oakalls roundabout to Slideslow roundabout | 21 to 25 September | Weeknight closures | Proposed |
| Stoke Road | September or October | Weeknight closures | To be confirmed |
| A38 Stoke Road, Aldi exit south | 5 to 16 October | Weeknight full closures | Proposed |
The Regents Park Road closures on 7, 8 and 9 August run overnight from 20:00 to 06:00, between the Oakalls roundabout and the entrance to Royal Worcester Crescent, for resurfacing and vegetation clearance. Access to Green Park Road and Abbey Close is kept open via the Oakalls roundabout, and Medici Road and Royal Worcester Crescent from the Alcester Road end.
The pattern to expect through the autumn is the one the council has used all year: night closures between 20:00 and 06:00, weekend closures from Friday evening to Monday morning, and signed A-road diversions rather than routes through residential streets, because formal diversions must use roads of the same classification as the one being closed.
Sanders Park car park, from 17 August
Separately from the A38, Bromsgrove District Council is extending the overflow car park at Sanders Park. Work starts Monday 17 August 2026 and is expected to take six to eight weeks.
The finished job should add 23 standard bays and 6 disabled bays to the current 82 general and 6 disabled spaces, along with new drainage, kerbs, footpaths and resurfacing. The contractor is Macdonald Surfacing, working 08:00 to 17:00 on weekdays only, with no evening or weekend working. Expect construction traffic, dust and a temporary one-way arrangement inside the car park while it is going on.
What parking costs in the town centre
Bromsgrove District Council runs ten car parks in and around the town, nine of them open to the public and one, at Parkside Offices, for permit holders only. The rule worth knowing is that every public one gives the first 30 minutes free, as long as you take a ticket from the machine.
| Car park | Spaces (accessible) | 1 hour | 3 hours | All day |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Recreation Road South | 292 (20) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £11.00 (10 hrs) |
| North Bromsgrove | 185 (10) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £6.00 (10 hrs) |
| School Drive | 128 (10) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £6.00 (10 hrs) |
| Parkside | 94 (6) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £6.00 (10 hrs) |
| St John Street | 82 (4) | £1.30 | £3.80 | 3-hour maximum |
| Stourbridge Road | 71 (5) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £6.00 (10 hrs) |
| Windsor Street | 65 (6) | £1.30 | £3.80 | 3-hour maximum |
| New Road | 58 (4) | £1.00 | £3.00 | £6.00 (10 hrs) |
| Aston Fields | Not stated | Free for 3 hours, all day with a permit | ||
Two things stand out. Recreation Road South is nearly twice the price of the others for a long stay, £11 against £6, despite being the biggest car park in the town. And St John Street and Windsor Street are the two 3-hour car parks, priced higher per hour precisely because they are meant to turn over. Blue Badge holders park free everywhere, though in the two 3-hour car parks that free parking is itself capped at three hours.
Bromsgrove has no park and ride site. The station car park is the nearest thing to one: 350 spaces on New Road at £3 a day, run by Excel Parking rather than the council, and covered on our Bromsgrove train times page.
The routes that carry the town
- The A38 is the spine. It runs from junction 4 of the M5 at Bromsgrove’s northern edge, past Catshill and along the eastern side of the town through the Slideslow, Oakalls, Buntsford Drive and Sherwood Road junctions, and on south towards Droitwich. Almost every BREP closure is on it or on a road feeding it.
- The M5 at junction 4 is the northern end of the BREP works and the town’s main motorway access. The M42 joins the M5 immediately north of it at junction 4a, which is why so much cross-region traffic funnels past Bromsgrove rather than round it.
- The A448 links Bromsgrove east to Redditch and west to Kidderminster. The Bromsgrove Highway stretch between the Oakalls roundabout and the Foxlydiate junction has had repeated overnight closures under BREP scheme E.
- The A491 runs north west towards Hagley and Stourbridge, the way most of the district’s western villages reach the town.
- Local roads to watch during closures: Stoke Road, Sherwood Road, New Road, Regents Park Road and Buntsford Drive have all carried closures or multi-way lights this year, mostly overnight.
Frequently asked questions
When will the Bromsgrove A38 roadworks finish?
Worcestershire County Council’s programme page, updated in July 2026, says some phase 3 activities will continue into spring 2027. Its separate FAQ page still gives the end of 2026. The council reviews the programme roughly quarterly and has promised its next update in October 2026.
Why is the A38 work taking so long?
The council’s stated reason is utility diversions. Gas, water and electricity apparatus has repeatedly turned up in places the records did not show, which stops work while the utility companies deal with it. Individual schemes have also been paused after discrepancies were found in the existing road layout.
How much is the A38 Bromsgrove scheme costing?
£49,698,512 in total. The Department for Transport is putting in £43,164,981, developers £5,216,238 through section 106 agreements, and the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership £1,317,293. By the end of July 2026, £34,666,977 had been spent.
Where can I park free in Bromsgrove?
The first 30 minutes is free in every public council car park if you take a ticket. Aston Fields is free for up to three hours. Blue Badge holders park free in all of them, with a three-hour cap at St John Street and Windsor Street.
Is Sanders Park car park closed?
Not closed, but under construction from 17 August 2026 for six to eight weeks while the overflow area is extended. Expect a temporary one-way system inside the car park and some disruption. The park itself stays open.
Related
- Bromsgrove train times: 23 minutes to Birmingham, and what station parking costs.
- Bromsgrove planning news: the housing growth the A38 junctions are being enlarged for.
- Things to do in Bromsgrove: including Sanders Park, where the car park works are.
- Bromsgrove house prices.
Sources
- Worcestershire County Council, latest news and progress on the A38 Bromsgrove improvements for the August to October works table and the Regents Park Road closures.
- Worcestershire County Council, Phase 3 of A38 BREP improvements for the funding breakdown, the spend to end July 2026, the scheme extent, the contractors and the spring 2027 statement.
- Worcestershire County Council, BREP frequently asked questions for the end of 2026 completion statement.
- Bromsgrove District Council, work to begin on Sanders Park car park extension for the 17 August start, the bay numbers and the working hours.
- Bromsgrove District Council, our car parks for the car park tariffs and space counts.
- Bromsgrove District Council, Sanders Park information for the existing car park capacity.
Closure dates move. Check the council’s programme page before you plan a journey around any of these, particularly anything marked proposed or to be confirmed.
Have your say
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