Bus lane between Dudley and Birmingham is ‘too expensive’ for congestion-cutting plans

The dedicated bus route along the Birmingham New Road from Burnt Tree in Dudley through to Lower City Road in Tividale, Sandwell, was included in multi-million-pound plans but now looks to have been scrapped as it would increase costs “significantly.”

Sandwell Council said building a dedicated bus lane would be too expensive, not reduce journey times enough, lead to hundreds of trees needing to be cut down and would also affect proposed cycling lanes.

Councillors backed the measures ‘in principle’ in February and Sandwell’s cabinet will meet again to decide on ‘concrete’ plans for one section of the major Black Country route to Birmingham next week.

The council’s officers have recommended scrapping dedicated bus routes along the A4123 Birmingham New Road in Sandwell saying the move could double the budget while not delivering enough benefits.

According to the cabinet report, surveys showed that installing a bus lane would cut journey times for the four-an-hour 126 service between Dudley and Birmingham by seven minutes during peak times but just 30 seconds during off-peak hours. A permanent bus lane would also lead to the loss of around 300 trees.

The council said installing a bus lane would also affect proposed walking and cycling lanes.

The authority is now instead looking to push ahead with plans to upgrade several junctions with “minimal” priority for buses but full preference to cyclists and pedestrians.

The junctions would be improved at Tipton Road, Portway Road, Lower City Road, Causeway Green, Pound Road, Queensway and Brandhall Road. Dedicated cycle lanes would also be built.

The report which will be discussed by councillors on September 11 said: “In order to construct the bus lanes, the cycle track and footways would have to be narrower than the desired standard, resulting in less-than-optimal active travel provision.

"The introduction of a bus lane would also widen the carriageway by two lanes in some locations. “This would increase crossing distances for pedestrians both impacting pedestrian journey times and decrease general junction capacity on a strategic route.”

Black Country councils were allocated nearly £30 million for the project to create a link between Wolverhampton city centre and Hagley Road in the edge of Birmingham via Sandwell and Dudley from the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA).

Of which, as much as £1.2m was set aside for the mile-stretch between Burnt Tree and Lower City Road – where the work is expected to have been completed by next year.

The authority has already supported the entire scheme ‘in principle’ but knows it does not yet have the money, either from WMCA or government funding, to finish the work.