Members Ask

Members can contact PushBikes in a variety of ways. The following queries were emailed recently

Cars parked on cycle lane on Chester Road

AB emailed: Is it possible to get something done about the cars parked all over Chester Road's cycle lane, particularly between Eachelhurst Road and Orphanage Road?
Who do I need to contact about this?

MG replied: Thanks for contacting PushBikes. I used to live opposite the Yenton Primary School and so have experienced the problems with parked vehicles on the cycle track.

When a signalised crossing was installed at the school I asked the City Council to install some bollards at strategic locations to stop vehicles entering but still allow sufficient width for cyclists to pass safely. This they duly did but it only covered a short section of track.

Since April Birmingham City Council are responsible for enforcement of parking regulations, which should include parking on footways, cycle tracks and cycle lanes.

They can be contacted as follows:

by phone 0121 303 7617
by fax 0121 464 4469
by email parking@birmingham.gov.uk
by letter Parking Section,
Highways, PO Box 37,
1 Lancaster Circus, Birmingham B4 7DQ

Barford Passage Tunnel, Rotton Park, Birmingham

KT wrote: An old disused single track railway line runs through an old railway tunnel under a road and currently carries a well maintained and well used cycleway / footpath called Barford Passage. Vast quantities of spoil have now been dumped near the pathway in order to infill the historic tunnel.

Background: The nearby Barford Primary School (B16 0EF) has recently acquired planning permission (Birmingham City Council (BCC) Planning Reference C/07876/04/BCC) to extend their playground towards and over the line of an adjacent Public Right of Way (footpath) called Barford Passage, which runs along the existing North boundary of the school.

The footpath would be diverted around the playground following the yellow line but in doing so, the plan is also to infill the tunnel in order to level out the ground. The current plans for the 'cycle route' now have it coming from Barford Passage (path), rising up two flights of steps to the road level, crossing the road via a Toucan crossing, then rejoining the pathway back down into Summerfield Park via another two flights of steps; a ridiculous backward step to any cyclist or recreational user and flies in the face of all other trends elsewhere in both Birmingham and countrywide.

PushBikes will discussing this at the next Monthly meeting on 14/10/08.

Access to towpaths, cycle ramps

AA emailed: I find it very difficult carrying my bike up or down steep steps onto canal tow paths (e.g. by university station) and would like to put in a plea for cycle ramps at all access points on to the canals.

PushBikes has and will continue to raise this issue with British Waterways.

The stairs at the university are quite narrow, but it should be possible to put a flat grooved track on one side of the stairs so you can wheel a bike up and down. Would still be quite a push!

Longbridge Area Action Plan

The Longbridge Area Action Plan consultaion closed on 9/5/08.

Sustrans 5 leaves the Rea River on one side of the site, wobbles along roads and rejoins the river on the other side of the site.

Is this a once in a lifetime chance to enhance Sustrans 5?

Let's hope that the opportunity to enhance Sustrans 5 with a Dutch quality cycleway crossing the Longbridge site is taken up.

Details >>

Harborne Walkway

Birmingham City Council expects to upgrade the path surfce in the current - 2008 - financial year.

PushBikes has asked for details to see:

how well it will cater for simultaneous use by pedestrians & cyclists.
will it be surfaced & drained so that it will be usable in wet weather
will the trees which tend to drop branches on the walkway be mnaintained?

The proper standard would be that of the Rea River Trail

Birmingham City Council Cycling Advisory Group

Report: June 2008 CAG meeting

Some good news on the Harborne Walkway, Cole Valey route and North Birmingham Connect 2 route

However the overall zeitgeist is chatting & much time was spent yakking about targets and going forward with a vision to set up another talk fest for all the stakeholders.

Oh, why not just set up one arterial route project and a 20mph zone focussed on promoting cycling to local community facilities such as shops, schools, libraries, park your bike & bus it etc then evaluate the results?

Hagley Road

No progress to report.

Actually, it's got worse!
The building works at the Five Ways end of Calthorpe Rd have narrowed the road so much that there's no room to pass a bike on this very busy section of the road. The pathway also has a blind turn at the end so is dangerous as well as illegal.

The heavy traffic down Westbourne Rd, school buses etc outside Edgie High and the increase in parking along the right make it difficult for cyclists.

The other alternative, a contraflow cycle lane along Harborne Rd, looks increasingly unlikely as the number of parked cars during peak hours continues to rise. Ths section of Harborne Rd will soon be one lane for much of it's length.

Neeraj has noticed that the traffic light cycle for cyclists turning right from Hagley Rd into Bearwood Rd is so short that cyclists can't make it before the oncoming deluge of cars is released.

Canals: British Waterways User group

PushBikes is actively discussing issues relevant to cycling with Britsh waterways.

Edgbaston Tunnel

The surface in the tunnel has deteriorated again! Even worse, the lights were not working for 3 weeks. The Council is responsible for lights: for 3 weeks, they put signs at each end of the tunnel saying there are no lights.
The signs were invisible at night & we can see that there aren't any lights already! Useless, but probably ticks a box and absolves them of legal liability for accidents etc?

British Waterways is "responsible" for maintenance of towpaths.

The shorter tunnels in Kings Norton have recently had their brick paving repaired.

Widening the Edgebaston Tunnel may not be feasible - expensive & narrows the waterway - but surely providing a stable long wearing surface is. In my experience, someone does a crappy 'fill the holes and smooth the dirt repair' each year, so the cost of this over 5 years would probably pay for marble paving?