‘Disruption’ concerns over huge Sprint bus scheme linking Walsall, Birmingham and Solihull

According to Transport for West Midlands, all services using the Sprint corridor already benefit from enhanced bus priority measures and an improved passenger experience, including more reliable and regular journey times.

Phase one of the project included extending bus lanes and priority signalling along the A34 and A45, it adds.

Reports on phase two, which will complete the Sprint corridor in Walsall, Birmingham city centre and Solihull, were discussed by Birmingham City Council’s cabinet on Tuesday, March 19.

Liberal Democrat councillor Morriam Jan warned of the possibility of “more disruption for the long-suffering residents who live by the side of the A45.”

The cabinet member for transport, Liz Clements, 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 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 rat-running 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 said in response.

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 argue 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,” she added.

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 on Tuesday.