Smethwick super hospital: Speed limit to be reduced

The A457 Grove Lane is currently a 40mph road, but Sandwell Council are looking to reduce it down to 30mph to accommodate the £353 million Midland Metropolitan Hospital which is set to be built and officially opened in 2018.

The 670-bed hospital is due to take up 16 acres on Grove Lane, but a further 31 acres of land between Grove Lane, Cranford Street Heath Street and Dugdale Street is to be transformed and filled with other employment opportunities and housing schemes.

Council chiefs have enforced the order on the lane under Traffic Regulation Order 2007, which is 200 metres north of the roundabout junction with Dudley Road, Cape Hill.

Councillor Richard Marshall believed the speed reduction was a 'safe and sensible' idea and in line with the hospital plans.

He said: "Grove Lane is a very busy road and I've had a number of complaints about speeding on several different occasions.

"I welcome the reduction down from 40mph to 30mph, as it will decrease the number of issues that have occurred from speeding in Grove Lane and surrounding road in the build up tot he hospital being completed.

"It's a wise move by the council and hope people adhere to it, for the safety of passers by."

In March last year a £2million scheme was launched in Smethwick which has seen improvements to pavements, street furniture and pedestrian crossings and lighting upgraded.

Nearby Cape Hill had one of the highest numbers of recorded road accidents in the borough with 34 incidents involving 40 casualties reported over the five years to the end of November 2014.

Councillor Maria Crompton, cabinet member for highways and environment, said: "The speed reduction is just one part of many safety measures we are taking in the borough to make the roads, whether driving or walking, safer for the public. Public safety is always the most important issue at hand, and with the completion of the new super hospital not too far off in the future, this is definitely a sensible decision made."

Sandwell and West Birmingham Hospitals NHS Trust signed the contract for the new hospital with The Hospital Company on December 11. Work has now begun, with a handover date to the Trust pencilled in for July 2018.

Trust chief executive Toby Lewis hailed the news as a 'pivotal moment' which will transform care for hundreds of thousands of people living in Sandwell and West Birmingham.