'It’s a joke': Residents vent frustration after speed bumps added to pothole-ridden West Midlands road

Many people are upset about the installation of speed bumps on Booths Lane in Great Barr, while the numerous potholes on the same street remain unrepaired.

We went down to Booths Lane to chat to residents and traders.

Some were confused as to why speed bumps hadn’t been installed to the end of the road, while others were frustrated to see potholes had been left unfixed.

Tony Farmer, of Tony Scissors Hair Studio, who is the oldest trader on the road, told us he was not the biggest fan of the speed bumps.

Counting on one section of the road, Tony could see that the council had left four potholes, and paved new speed bumps. Tony said that the speed bumps hadn’t slowed down cars on the road.

He said: “I haven’t seen them slow down.

“I think it’s a waste of money, and we pay for it, we’re the taxpayer.

“The council is supposed to have no money. We’re paying for this and it isn’t doing the job.”

Tony would have preferred to have seen a more speed bump coverage, so that they were “fully across the road and not so wide of space in between”.

Tony is not the only one with this opinion.

On Facebook, the speed bumps have divided opinion in Great Barr.

User Annabel Wall Smith wrote: “Wish they’d fix the potholes before putting in speed bumps.”

Similarly, user Nigel Jarvis wrote: “It’s a joke, repair the road first then put the speed bumps in no wonder the city is in trouble.”

The speed bump on Booths Lane in the Oscott/Great Barr area were installed by Birmingham City Council after consultations that began in late 2025.

Local campaigners Alex Hall and Charlotte Whitehouse have both called for speed bumps because of the speeding cars.

In a social media post in March on Facebook, Alex Hall and Charlotte Whitehouse stressed the importance for their campaign to raise more speed bumps on Booths Lane and Sandy Lane.

Hall said to residents: “We’re out on Booths Lane today, (March 11), one of the things that we’ve been campaigning for quite a long time is to get speed bumps on Booths Lane and also on Sandy Lane. This is a big issue around Booths Farm, because of the speeding cars.”

A Birmingham City Council spokesperson told the Express & Star: “We assess all highway network defects using a defined risk matrix to ensure a consistent and proportionate response to repairs. Like many highway authorities, we have experienced a significant increase in both reactive repairs and planned maintenance activity across the network since the start of 2026.

“The newly installed traffic calming features referenced are part of a separate scheme currently being developed and delivered outside of routine highway maintenance activities.

“Our teams are working at pace to prioritise and address defects based on safety risk and network condition, alongside an extensive programme of ongoing works scheduled across Birmingham. We will continue to monitor the condition of the road, taking appropriate action where issues meet our intervention criteria.”