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Summer Travel Update – 23 August 2018

Including information about the closure of Paradise Circus from 3 September and other transport works in the Westside area, bank holiday travel and consultation on new Sprint public transport routes.

Included in this update:

Birmingham is a busy place this summer. For more information about travel in Birmingham visit: www.birmingham.gov.uk/summertravel. You can also visit our web pages to find out more about current and future road works. Previous Birmingham Connected updates can also be viewed.

To make your journey as smooth as possible please try to:

leave the car at home and travel by bus, train, tram, bike, or on foot
consider car-sharing with family, friends, or colleagues
beat the traffic by travelling at quieter times
avoid travel by working from home
plan ahead

Paradise Circus closure from 3 September

From Monday 3 September Paradise Circus will be closed to traffic in both directions. This is to enable construction of the Birmingham Westside Metro extension from Victoria Square to Centenary Square. The A38 Queensway underpass, which runs beneath Paradise Circus, will remain open in both directions to allow access to and from the Aston Expressway and M6. Some bus services will be diverted.

From 21 September, the city centre end of Broad Street (Centenary Square) will also be closed, with additional bus diversions coming into effect.

For more information about road closures, diversions and to plan your journey, visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/metro-works where you will find a handy interactive map produced by Transport for West Midlands. Please plan ahead and avoid driving into the city centre whenever possible.

Broad Street and the surrounding area remain open for business and visitors as usual.

Other Westside works

Several other schemes, currently underway in the west side of the city centre, are scheduled to complete before the closure of Broad Street (Centenary Square). These include:

Construction of a new right turn lane from Islington Row Middleway to Bath Row. Islington Row Middleway (ring road A4540) eastbound is currently reduced to one lane until the end of August.

Construction of a bus lane on Bath Row/Holloway Head towards Holloway Circus, starting at Granville Street and ending at Blucher Street. The final bus lane will use space currently used for parking, so there will be no long term change to traffic arrangements, although some parking will be permanently unavailable. Some overnight lane closures will be required.

Bank holiday getaway

Motorways in the region are expected to be extremely busy from Thursday evening, with Friday and Saturday being particularly congested. To help people using the motorway network over the bank holiday weekend, Highways England will be removing or suspending most roadworks from 6am on Friday 24 August until 12.01am on Tuesday 28 August. However, delays are expected on the M5 from junctions 4 to 1. Find out more bank holiday travel information from Highways England.

Euston Station closures

There will be no trains in or out of Euston Station over the bank holiday weekend (25-27 August). The station will also be closed the following weekend (1-2 September). Find out more about Euston Station summer weekend closures.

In addition, Network Rail’s Railway Upgrade Plan is improving services across the Midlands region. While works take place there may be some changes to your journey. To check your journey visit National Rail.

HS2 Curzon Street Station works

From 27 August, Park Street (B4114) will be reduced to one lane overnight (from 8pm to 7am). The footpath will also be closed during these times. These works are expected to last for approximately 2 weeks.

If you would like to find out more about the construction of HS2 Curzon Street Station, there is a public drop-in event on Tuesday 28 August from 12pm-2pm at The Bond Company 180-182 Fazeley Street, Birmingham, B5 5SE.

Sprint public transport consultation

Have your say on exciting new plans for a modern, high-quality public transport service. Sprint is a limited stop service with dedicated bus lanes and priority through areas of congestion. Transport for West Midlands is consulting on three Sprint routes that will be operational in time for the Commonwealth Games in 2022. The proposed routes are: Birmingham to Walsall (A34), Birmingham to Birmingham Airport and Solihull (A45) and Sutton Coldfield to Birmingham via Langley. There is also a consultation on some advanced roadworks to prepare the Hagley Road, close to Five Ways for a future Sprint route.

To find out more and have your say visit: www.tfwm.org.uk/sprint.The consultations close on Friday 28 September.

Sprint consultation drop-in sessions are also available: