A50 upgrade in Staffordshire 'to start by end of 2014'
Work could start on a £40m upgrade to a Staffordshire trunk road by the end of 2014, a council has said.
In December, the government announced it would fund the improvements to the A50 at Uttoxeter.
The council, which is currently consulting on the project, said a planning application would be submitted in the spring.
It is hoped the first phase, to build a new junction near the town, will be finished by December 2015.
The junction would serve a proposed housing development and business park west of Uttoxeter.
The second phase, to the east, will involve installing a new junction and removing two roundabouts, which are a cause of congestion.
Andy Harvey, who uses the road every day, said: "It definitely needs improving. At 18:00 GMT, it can take me anywhere between 40 minutes to an hour-and-a-half to get home."
In December, JCB's chairman Lord Bamford, a Conservative party donor, said the A50 investment had enabled him to press ahead with a £150m business expansion.