'80 per cent’ of parking to be retained under new Sprint plans

Following a public consultation on the route last year, Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) has revealed its final plans for the route along Walsall Road, which will run for 14.5km between Walsall and Birmingham.

Out of 371 spaces in Perry Barr affected by the route, only 45 – or 12 per cent – will now be lost as part of the revised plans.

This compares with 233 spaces that were originally due to be removed under the scheme considered during the consultation.

The parking spaces have been retained thanks to modifications to some road verges and parts of the central reservation of the A34, with the current grassy knoll between the road and pavement planned to be used for the new spaces.

Concerns over the loss of parking spaces has been one of the biggest grievances of local residents, with members of the A34 Safety Action Group particularly vocal in their criticism of TfWM.

But, speaking today, TfWM development director Sandeep Shingadia said that he hoped the concerns of most residents had been addressed by the new proposals, while also revealing that he expects engagement to continue throughout the process.

“Today we’ve revealed the designs along the A34, really in response to the feedback and the comments we’ve had from local residents and businesses in the area from the consultation we held last year,” he said.

“So this is really about how we’ve taken on board those concerns and comments, and revised the design accordingly. And getting the balance right between what we need to achieve with Sprint, and how does it meet local needs.

“One of the biggest concerns has been around the loss of local parking in the lay-bys along the route, particularly in terms of the area between the Scott arms and Perry Barr, so we have redesigned that quite substantially to retain about 80 per cent of that parking, and will only require select areas for widening into the central reservation and footway to create the priority lanes for Sprint to make sure it can provide those reliable and predictable journey times.

“What we’ve done is thought very carefully about that redesign, so in many cases looked at where we can re-allocate those spaces in the same area, in the verges that exist already.

“In some cases where we’ve had to use the parking, they’re quite dispersed along the route, so it’s not whole sections of parking that have been taken away.

“In some places we’ve been able to put some additional parking in, and those details will be available at the drop in sessions taking place this week.

“For us engagement will continue. It’s how we want to ensure that we can show the more detailed designs that look at where those potentially impact properties or individuals and make sure we can have one-to-one engagement with them as well.”

Dedicated bus lanes will be created along some sections of the road to minimise congestion at “pinch points,” TfWM said, while Sprint will also have priority at traffic lights to ensure the quickest journeys possible.

Journey times are forecast to be more than 20 per cent quicker than conventional bus services.

The £42 million Sprint scheme is part of the wider £500 million regeneration of Perry Barr, which includes integrated transport improvements, hundreds of new homes, walking and cycling routes, a new school, high-quality public spaces and the refurbishment of the Alexander Stadium, which will host athletics during the Commonwealth Games.

Drop in sessions for residents will be taking place throughout the week.