A tyre company has warned the Sprint Bus route from Walsall to Birmingham could put jobs at risk - after claiming there had been a lack of cosultation.
And BMTR has now joined residents from the A34 Action Group in calling for consultation to be re-run before any further steps are taken.
However, Transport for West Midlands has strongly defended its consultation on the A34 Sprint route, pointing out it has sent out letters, social media posts, attended public meetings and advertised in bus shelters.
Earlier this year plans were unveiled to construct a £110 million rapid bus network ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.
The first route will run from Walsall to Birmingham city centre, passing the Athletes Village and the Alexander Stadium in Perry Barr.
In order for the route to be constructed a slip road separating homes and businesses along the Walsall Road from the A34 is set to be removed.
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Yet local tyre firm BMTR, who employ 120 people in the area, say that will negatively affect their business.
And bosses claim far from working with the local community, the Combined Authority never consulted them about the proposals in the first place.
"The first we've really heard about the rapid service was about a week and a half ago when a councillor came and asked if we were aware," said Gary Hickman, one of the managers at BMTR.
"He gave us a brief explanation of what it was, and then we were told there was a residents' meeting taking place which we attended, and that's really all we've found out about it.
"The big problem for us is obviously there wasn't any consultation.
"A fundamental part of our business is receiving goods, storing goods, and dispatching goods using the road out the front.
"Without the use of that road, it makes our operation impossible. We're employing 120 plus people on a six day full-time basis, so it's putting a lot of things - including those people - in jeopardy.
"We're wholesalers of motor car and motorcycle tyres, so we supply tyres to a lot of business all around the West Midlands.
"About three times a day we send a fleet of about 34/35 vans out, all at the same time. And we've got container lorries and delivery lorries from all the main manufacturers which have to park outside and take their time slot to be unloaded."
On Tuesday evening a meeting was called for residents to discuss the proposals, with West Midlands Mayor Andy Street and representatives from the WMCA in attendance.
And Terry Pauley, who is also a co-owner of the business, says that people seemed shocked when they revealed that their business had not been consulted.
"I think the general feeling is, no-one knew anything about it," he said.
"We heard all these residents you know, complaining about a lack of consultation. I think the biggest shock seemed to be at that meeting when we said, as the biggest business in the area, that we knew nothing about it either.
"Which clearly suggests that the consultation either didn't happen or happened in a deliberate way almost to not alert the people that needed to know about it.
"We've been going 99 years as a business, and we've been on the Walsall Road since 1997.
"We certainly think there hasn't been a consultation, so it's almost farcical to say to do it again when we don't feel it's happened in the first place.
"But certainly if it happens we will be a strong vocal voice to put our point across and make sure they realise what is at risk. And not just what is at risk but how little it is needed."
Local residents also claim they did not receive vital information relating to the public consultation.
Annette Pereira helped to form the A34 Safety Action Group in response to the growing discontent from locals.
And she's calling for a second consultation, claiming that only three people out of 100 who attended the recent local meeting said that they had been consulted about the proposals.
She said: "One of the last things I said to the mayor when he left our meeting the other night was are you going to start this consultation process again? Because at the meeting I stood up and said 'how many people in the room have had this leaflet that they profess that everybody had?' And two or possibly three people put their hands up, out of 100 odd people. So we're calling for another consultation.
"I've looked into the proper guidelines that they should have followed. They should have written to every single person who was going to be affected on the Walsall Road individually.
"They say that they've contacted specialist groups and done everything, they say that there's an engagement officer. You know they didn't even have information in different languages for people. It's really really shocking.
"I didn't know about this until August. When I started knocking on doors to speak to people there was one gentleman who has a carer twice a day. If they can't park outside and they've got to come late at night and park in a side road, they won't do it.
"This will have a massive effect on vulnerable people who need care, particularly early in the morning and late at night."
In addition to opposition from local residents, there has also been political criticism over the way in which the consultation was carried out by the West Midlands Combined Authority.
And the majority of this has come from Perry Barr MP Khalid Mahmood, who wonders whether the correct area was consulted over the proposals.
"They [the Combined Authority] said they've received over 1000 replies to the consultation," he said.
"Now what i want to know is which area that was done in? There are a number of other routes that they are planning so was that done in those areas or this area?
"I want to know how many people in Birmingham have been consulted on this, how many returns they've had on this, what were the views of the consultation that they received?
"None of that information is available and I find it absolutely amazing that in this day and age of transparency, that these people are prepared to go these lengths not to tell the people exactly what is going on.
"This is just a complete waste of money and I'm minded to refer this to the District Auditor or the National Audit Office in terms of whether this is money well spent for the region in terms of transport, or not."
Responding to the criticism, a spokesperson for the WMCA said: "Transport for West Midlands has consulted widely on our plans for Sprint on the A34, along with the routes to Sutton Coldfield and on the A45. Many hundreds of residents, businesses and commuters have taken part on the consultation."
Consultation is said to have included:
- Letters and flyers hand delivered to households and businesses along routes
- Advertising on 266 bus shelters along the proposed routes and 60 digital screens
- More than 1,500 people filled in the online questionnaire
- Social media coverage with 146,911 people reached on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and 2,812 click-throughs to the Sprint website
- Three consultation events on A34 route attended by some 600 people (13 across region attended by 1,030 people)
- Letters sent to 28 MPs and councillors
- TfWM staff attended 13 public meetings and surgeries hosted by councillors
- 61 telephone queries were dealt with and 60 email correspondences logged and visits to households and businesses
- Researchers interviewed 235 bus passengers along the A34 corridor
- More than a dozen Sprint articles appeared in daily regional newspapers and websites and local radio
- Sprint literature distributed in ten libraries
