£1.2m upgrade for canal stretch in Sandwell
More than £1 million will be spent upgrading a three-mile stretch of the Birmingham Canal in Sandwell, council chiefs have revealed.
The canal towpath between Smethwick Galton Bridge, Sandwell and Dudley, and Dudley Port rail stations is set for a £1.2 million revamp, which bosses claim will have ‘health benefits’.
A council report says the cash will come from a West Midlands Combined Authority fund to improve cycle routes in the Midlands.
This Managing Short Trips strategy aims to ‘create an extensive, safe and coherent network of well-designed off and on-road links’ across the region.
Councillor David Hosell, cabinet member for highways, said: “Any improvements that we can make to the canals – either appearance, safety or other things – are to be welcomed.
“This work will benefit the community in a number of ways – that can be either exercise or for seeing wildlife and nature, as well as making them safer.
“I think we should be using our canals more for all sorts of things, and if we can help then we will.
“[The improvement work] will hopefully have health benefits and it needs to be done.
“If the canals are allowed to deteriorate further then they could reach a point where they are not repairable.”
A report for the council cabinet says the work is a key part of its 2017-18 programme. This says: “The WMCA Managing Short Trips programme will fund works on the Birmingham Canal between Galton Bridge, Sandwell & Dudley Railway Station and Albion Road.”
The potential health benefits of the canal work are also set out in the report, which says Sandwell’s levels of physical activity and life expectancy are worse than the national average.
It states: “In 2012, 24.5 per cent of Year 6 children and 25.4 per cent of adults in Sandwell were classified as obese, with levels physical activity and life expectancy being worse than the England average.”
“The West Midlands on the Move 2017-30 Physical Activity Strategy identifies thatFigures show that nearly two million adults or 29 per cent of the West Midlands population are doing less than 30 minutes of activity a week.
“Inactivity is holding back economic growth and the better life chances, raised aspirations and better quality of life and leads to: poorer health, less productivity at work, more isolated society [and] reduced educational attainment
To mitigate the health impacts of inactivity in the West Midlands, the programme aims to create the network of safe routes strategy aims to provide a working partnership with local authorities and Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) to create an extensive, safe and coherent network of well-designed off and on-road links connecting key destinations irrespective of administration boundaries to promote walking, cycling and running.
