And while political figures across the West Midlands celebrated the latest confirmation for the heavily delayed project, first mooted in 2017, the promise of shorter journey times for commuters and improved regional connectivity carried significant weight for the area's businesses. Around 2.2 miles of new road is set to be built at a hefty cost of some £200 million, bypassing the existing A460 which is used by the majority of traffic heading north onto the M6 from the M54. Around 26,000 vehicles queue up on the 30mph A460 every year, with trucks and lorries making up around 10 per cent of that traffic. According to official estimates, the "high value" new link road will add around £630 million in economic benefits to the region, a figure generated using the UK Treasury's "Benefit to cost ratio" formula, which calculates that for every £1 spent building the road it will deliver £3.17 in benefits over the next 60 years. But if that often-repeated figure is indeed just an estimate calculated by a government spreadsheet, what does it mean in real terms for the region's businesses, and how will the road realistically deliver an extra £10m per year to the regional economy? Transport bosses have said the scheme will boost economic growth in Telford and Shrewsbury while improving access to jobs in areas such as the i54 business park, home to Jaguar Land Rover's electric motor plant in Wolverhampton. And while for the average road user, getting to Stoke-on-Trent 10 minutes faster might not be particularly beneficial, for businesses with large logistics departments, those small improvements can add up over the course of a year. Chris Greenough, CEO of Telford-based CEL Sheet Metal, said the reduction in congestion will lower the cost of his firm's logistics operation and make it easier to recruit staff.