Sprint routes on right road despite disruption
THE controversial Sprint bus ‘corridor’ linking Birmingham, Walsall and Solihull has taken an important step forward, despite concerns over disruption.
The Sprint scheme will see a bus priority corridor running down a continuous route through several areas along the A34 and A45.
According to Transport for West Midlands, all services using the Sprint corridor already benefit from enhanced bus priority measures and more regular journey times.
Phase one of the project included extending bus lanes and priority signalling along the A34 and A45, it adds.
Phase two of the project will complete the Sprint corridor in Walsall, Birmingham city centre and Solihull.
But at a Birmingham City Council cabinet meeting, Cllr Morriam Jan (Lib Dem, Perry Barr) warned of the possibility of more disruption for the “long-suffering residents” who live by the side of the A45.
Cllr Liz Clements, cabinet member for transport, said: “Obviously there will be some disruption during the construction but I think the community along the A45 has come together to say that we want traffic to move slower and for there to be better safety, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists.
“This is a bus priority scheme but I think reallocating road space towards mass transit will help slow down traffic and improve the experience of everybody travelling along the A45 corridor.”
Cllr Jan also asked what
could be done to stop “potential ratrunning on the side roads” due to the works taking place. “If the local councillors in the area are interested in working with their residents and communities to develop Low Traffic Neighbourhoods and implement the low traffic approach, I would back them in that,” Cllr Clements replied.
She continued: “For all of our communities, reducing
volumes of traffic is what is going to promote better road safety, healthy neighbourhoods and streets where it’s pleasant to walk and cycle”.
Discussing the A34 report, Cllr Jan went on to spell out that businesses in her ward of Perry Barr had claimed they had lost income due to the roadworks.
“I’m absolutely sympathetic to the businesses,” Cllr Clements responded. “But as you’re aware, we’ve done a lot of transformation for transport around Perry Barr.”
“The reality is the vast majority of people in Birmingham who are taking public transport are on the buses and we need to make sure they have a good experience, and they’re not sitting in queueing traffic.”
On why Sprint is needed in the region, Transport for West Midlands says: “Our region is growing. By 2035, the population of the West Midlands is set to increase by up to 444,000 (100 people per day) and we expect 215,000 new homes to be built across the region by 2030.
“Investment in our passenger transport network will help provide the capacity and quality of service we need, while helping to keep our region moving.”
The full business case for both the A45 and A34 sections for the scheme’s second phase were approved by the cabinet.
For all of our communities, reducing volumes of traffic is what is going to promote better road safety, healthy neighbourhoods Cllr Jan