Birmingham Cycle Revolution update – January 2016
Work has started on the on-road improvements being delivered as part of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution scheme with the aim of making cycling an everyday way to travel in the city.
When complete, the current package of work on the Lichfield Road ‘main corridor’ will comprise mainly of cycling facilities within existing bus lanes, following the A5127 from the City Centre to Erdington via Lancaster Circus, Corporation Street, Dartmouth Circus, Aston Road, Lichfield Road and Salford Circus.
Elsewhere, as part of the ‘Local Links’ programme (so that canal towpaths and green routes are linked to the other parts of the cycling network – these are minor measures such as pedestrian crossings, dropped kerbs, refuges and signs and lines), works have been completed on Coplow Street/Northbrook Road , Hazelwell Road and Fordrough Lane.
Improvements on Barford Road (Edgbaston) are expected to be completed by the end of January. Schemes on Yardley Green Road, Stratford Road, Hob Moor Road and Bordesley Green East will be starting in February.
Parallel Routes (cycle routes on quieter roads for the less confident cyclist) at Warwick Road and Bristol Road are currently being planned with a view to work commencing in February. A further Parallel Route for Alcester Road is programmed to commence in early March.
Cllr Lisa Trickett, Cabinet Member for Sustainability, who champions cycling issues for the council, said: “It’s great that we are now starting to deliver another important strand of the Birmingham Cycle Revolution.
“If we are to achieve the modal shift from cars to other more sustainable forms of transport like bicycles, we need to get the right infrastructure in place.
“Improvements to on-road routes such as the Lichfield Road main corridor are an essential part of this. Complemented by the local links, parallel routes, green routes and canal routes, cycling from A to B in Birmingham will be made easier than ever before.”
Consultation on a range of further routes is due to start in the spring, with full details being made available when they are ready.
For more information on the Birmingham Cycle Revolution, please visit www.birmingham.gov.uk/bcr
ENDS
Notes to editors
Birmingham Cycle Revolution (BCR) is a Birmingham City Council initiative. The objective of BCR is to make cycling an everyday way to travel in Birmingham over the next 20 years. We want 5 per cent of all trips in the city to be made by bike by 2023 and to double this again to 10 per cent by 2033. This will help to make our city healthier, greener, safer and less congested.
Investing in high quality transport systems will be crucial to stimulating and shaping growth in Birmingham, and ensuring excellent access to jobs, education, healthcare, leisure and shops for everyone. It is particularly important that we continue to invest in our sustainable transport network to allow people to travel around the city easily on foot, by bicycle and by public transport. This will allow us to make the best use of the existing road network and to tackle traffic congestion which could otherwise restrict economic growth in the city. Increasing the use of active and more sustainable modes of travel will also help to improve people’s health, and the environment, including helping to reduce carbon emissions. This will be delivered through the Birmingham Connected initiative, of which BCR is a key component.
Through BCR, we have already delivered improvements to canal towpaths and green routes with more schemes planned, and work is about to begin to improve cycling facilities on the highway. This is supplemented by a package of ‘supporting measures’ including a folding bike hire scheme, grants to improve cycling facilities at businesses and educational establishments, and the giveaway of thousands of Big Birmingham bikes to people living in our less well-off communities.
