Smart motorway · Solihull B90
Sorted in Solihull: smart motorway handled 24/7
Under Solihull MBC, Solihull mixes detached family homes with working units at Cranmore. Smart motorway in the first is a parking and access problem; in the second it is a downtime problem. This page deals with both. Which is why locals ring us rather than a national line. Nothing gets sub-contracted out of the Solihull MBC area. Trade sites we visit most: Cranmore and Cranmore. On tight business parks we bring skates rather than argue with a turning circle.
- B90 postcode area
- M42 J5
- A41
We recover breakdowns from smart motorway sections around Birmingham, working alongside National Highways procedures to reach you safely, but the steps you take in the first few minutes matter for your own safety before we can get there.
Getting a truck to you in Solihull
Vehicles collected near M42 Junction 5 are usually loaded from the offside because of the camber. If the vehicle is in a multi-storey, tell us the level: deck height rules out some trucks entirely. If you are unsure of the postcode, B90 plus a landmark such as M42 Junction 5 is enough. It keeps the job to one visit, which is the whole point.
The likely cause
If you can't reach a refuge area
If you break down in a live lane and genuinely cannot move to a refuge area, keep your seatbelt on, put hazard lights on, and turn on your hazard warning lights and, if fitted, your fog lights to increase visibility, especially in poor weather or at night. If you can safely exit the vehicle and get behind a barrier, do so; if not, stay in the car with your seatbelt fastened and call 999 immediately.
- Reach an emergency refuge area (orange sign) if at all possible
- Use the ERA emergency phone to alert National Highways
- If stuck in a live lane, call 999 straight away
- Exit via the passenger side only if it's safe to do so
Once the lane is closed or you're in a refuge area
Once you're safely off the live carriageway or the lane's been closed, call us for recovery. We'll coordinate arrival with the situation on the ground, since access to smart motorway sections during an active incident is managed carefully for everyone's safety.
If you can reach an emergency refuge area
Smart motorways have emergency refuge areas (ERAs) spaced along them, marked with orange signs, offering a safe place to stop off the live lanes. If you feel a fault developing, try to reach the next one rather than stopping in a live lane, and use the emergency phone within the refuge area to alert National Highways, who can close the lane and route traffic away from you.
Kit that matters on these streets
- Photographic condition report on collection and delivery
- Live-carriageway work off M42 J5 done to Highway Code rules
- Tilt-and-slide for detached family homes where a spec-lift cannot get in
- Low-approach ramps for lowered and damaged vehicles
Solihull in practical terms
The commercial spine of Solihull runs through Cranmore, with Touchwood shopping centre as the obvious landmark. If you can name either when you ring, the dispatcher can place you inside B90/B91/B92 immediately and brief the driver on the approach.
Residential and commercial jobs differ here
A domestic smart motorway job in Solihull is usually about getting one car to one garage. A commercial one is about downtime — a van off the road near Cranmore is a day's work gone, so we prioritise a roadside attempt before recovery.
- Homeowners and tenants: recovery to a local garage or your driveway
- Landlords and letting agents: vehicles blocking access at managed properties
- Fleet and courier operators: same-shift turnaround where possible
- Dealers and bodyshops around Birmingham: stock movements
Solihull questions
What's the difference between a smart motorway and a normal one for breakdowns in Solihull?
Many smart motorway sections have no permanent hard shoulder, meaning a breakdown in a live lane is more dangerous — emergency refuge areas and rapid reporting to National Highways are key safety measures.
Are you insured to move my vehicle across West Midlands?
Yes. Goods-in-transit and recovery operator liability are in force for every movement, whether it is two streets in B90 or a longer run out of West Midlands.
What if the vehicle is blocking A41?
Say so immediately — that changes the priority. A vehicle on a live carriageway near Touchwood shopping centre is treated as urgent, and we will talk you through where to stand while you wait.
Can you recover me from an emergency refuge area in Solihull?
Yes, once you're safely in a refuge area, call us and we'll coordinate our arrival with the situation on the ground.
Do I need to be with the vehicle in Solihull?
Not always. For collections from detached family homes or a unit near Cranmore we can work with a key safe or a nominated contact, provided we have written authority and someone to receive the vehicle at the other end.
Should I call 999 or you first in Solihull?
If you're stopped in a live lane on a smart motorway, call 999 immediately so the lane can be closed, then call us for recovery.
Nearby areas we cover for this
Solihull sits between Birmingham and Edgbaston. These neighbouring areas are on the same rota, with distances measured from Solihull.
Solihull and smart motorway — where that leaves you
We cover Solihull every day, not occasionally. That is why this page talks about Touchwood shopping centre and Cranmore rather than listing every town in West Midlands. The B90 streets around Touchwood shopping centre were not laid out with a 7.5-tonne transporter in mind. Storage, if it is needed, stays inside West Midlands rather than being shipped out of area. You deal with the same operation from the first call to the drop-off. Access notes get saved against your address, so the second Solihull callout is faster than the first.
Related faults in Solihull
Smart motorway across B90/B91/B92, 24 hours a day
One call to the operations desk that covers Solihull and Birmingham, Edgbaston, Kings Heath. No IVR, no membership lookup, no callback queue.