Walsall residents launch campaign against bus lane

Dozens of people living in and around Birmingham Road held a placard-waving protest in the rain voicing their displeasure at the planned removal of around 70 mature trees on the central reservation between the junctions of Queens Road and Ravensdale Gardens.

West Midlands Combined Authority is looking to introduce a bus lane on the A34 from Birmingham to Walsall as part of the controversial ‘sprint bus’ proposals.

Bosses said the scheme would ease congestion while new trees will be planted to mitigate against the loss of the existing ones.

But campaigners branded the idea a waste of money and said the loss of the trees on that small stretch of Birmingham Road would be devastating for the area.

Birmingham Road resident and Labour campaigner Nick Dodds, who organised the protest, said: “We measured the section of the road and it is 550 metres long. We’ve worked out that would mean one minute of travel for a vehicle travelling at 30mph.

“Our evidence is buses don’t get held up on the way into Walsall on that patch of road. They get held up before it and after it and they’re not doing anything about that.

“We have talked to people in all the side roads and they are all saying they have trouble getting in and out anyway. So are their going to be traffic lights? No, it’s not in the plan.

“One of the major problems is consultation. They will say they held two events but they were effectively exhibitions.

“It was not a consultation at all. It’s the modern version where they are telling us they will go ahead and do it anyway.”

Francis Pietrzak, who has lived on Birmingham Road for 24 years, said: “I see no necessity to cause absolute disruption to everyone who lives on this road with a very short bus lane that takes one minute to drive at 30mph.

“I cannot see the reasons to have this which will destroy the whole area and that will make it difficult for us to actually come out of our drives. I think it is nonsense.

“The trees have been here 50 or 60 years, they absorb a lot of CO2 and make our environment much more pleasant. I don’t think the bus lane will do anything to reduce congestion.”

Walsall Labour group leader Aftab Nawaz said: “I have always been against the sprint bus and I am against the fact we are creating something that is unnecessary such as the bus lane at the expense of mature trees.

“We should be planting trees and not getting rid of them.

“The sprint bus is just a vanity project for the Mayor of the West Midlands. The X51 service is doing everything a bus service should do so there is no reason for a sprint bus.

“To get rid of mature trees is wrong and we need to listen to local people. They don’t to lose this green area for a bus lane.”

A Transport for West Midlands spokesman said: “Sprint will be a reliable, frequent and low-emission bus-based transit system.

“A number of improvements will be made along the A34 to ease traffic congestion.

“As part of the construction for the scheme there are a number of trees that will be affected.

“We are working with our local authority partners and environmental experts to minimise the impact of the works, including the planting of new trees and recycling of the felled trees.

“We will be working with the local community in Walsall and the surrounding areas to identify the best places to plant the new trees.

“The scheme is part of the West Midland’s Local Transport Plan, which is designed to reduce car use and encourage people to adopt sustainable methods of transport.

“A full business case for the route is due to be published in the next few weeks.”