A bus gate has been proposed for Birmingham city centre to prohibit traffic amid ‘harmful pollution’ - here's where
Plans for a 'bus gate' in Birmingham city centre have been unveiled in a bid to prohibit traffic and reduce 'harmful pollution'
Birmingham City Council is planning to install a new bus gate near the city centre as part of a project to tackle ‘harmful pollution’.
The Labour-run council is proposing changes to the junction of Dartmouth Middleway, Lister Street and Great Lister Street in a bid to address poor air quality and reduce congestion.
The planned ‘improvements’ for the site, found in the heart of the Knowledge Quarter, include a new bus gate on Dartmouth Middleway to prohibit eastbound and westbound general traffic and shared-use cycle tracks.
A bus gate gives buses priority at a junction by holding other vehicles at a red light and allowing the bus to get ahead of queued traffic.
“The Dartmouth Middleway junction has been identified as having poor air quality, due to congestion and slow-moving traffic,” the council wrote.
“This leads to higher levels of harmful pollution, particularly nitrogen dioxide (NO₂), which is known to affect lung health, mainly impacting children and young people.
“This junction is situated in Birmingham Knowledge Quarter, located close to schools, colleges and universities, making improvements to air quality and the street environment especially important.”
The proposals are part of the city’s wider Clean Air Zone Additional Measures programme, which delivers “targeted changes” in places where cleaner air is most needed.
The council says they also support its wider transport and climate goals by reducing “unnecessary” through‑traffic and giving greater priority to public transport, walking, wheeling and cycling.
“We cannot tackle the climate emergency without fundamental changes to the way people and goods move around our city,” the council’s transport plan reads.
“We need to work with our partners to secure investment and make Birmingham a place where walking, cycling and using public transport are the best and preferred modes of travel for most people.
“Even then, we must all fundamentally change our travel habits and reduce the overall amount we travel by car.”
It added: “Over-dependence on private cars is bad for our health, the health of our families, bad for our communities and bad for business, as measured by the millions of pounds of lost productivity caused by congestion every year.”
The proposed works at the Dartmouth Middleway junction are part of a government capital grant of £14.215 million for the Clean Air Zone Implementation Programme, which was accepted by the council back in 2019.
The total cost of this scheme is just under £1 million, covering detailed design, consultation and construction.
A public consultation on the proposals, which runs until February 19, can be found on the Birmingham Be Heard website here.
