Birmingham City Council is consulting on some major plans to pedestrianise most of Hurst Street, as well as introducing more bus gates to reduce motor traffic rat-running through the city centre, pushing ahead with the city centre movement and access strategy. The consultation closes on the 16th August 2024.

I've headlined with the Hurst Street measures, because of all the proposals, those will be the most visible to anyone cycling through Birmingham City Centre. From 7pm to 7am, Hurst Street, and part of Bromsgrove Street, will be closed to motor vehicles, to support the night time economy in the area. A new bi-directional cycle track will be installed along Hurst Street, Bromsgrove Street and then Pershore Street, to help cycle users connect from the Bristol Road cycle track to the rest of the city centre. This will be a significant upgrade for cycling facilities in the area which we strongly support.

The consultation can be found on Birmingham Be Heard: City Centre Movement and Access Strategy consultation

We strongly support the proposals, and we hope that you will respond to the consultation to show your support as well. We wish that all consultations from Birmingham City Council were as well thought out and showed as much attention to detail as these do. 

Four areas covered in the consultation

• Great Charles Street Queensway
• Colmore Row
• Southside, from Hill Street down to Hurst Street
• Digbeth, Lower Trinity Street, Heath Mill Lane and Floodgate Street

There are a lot of details in this consultation, so I will first provide an overview of the main features in each area, and then give some more detailed comments about improvements we think could be made to the proposals. I have done my best to explain the main points of the proposals, but if you want to understand all the details of the proposals, it is best if you check the plans on the consultation page.

Overview

The measures aim to do two things:

• Deliver modal filters between different segments of the city centre, so that public transport and people walking and cycling can travel around the city centre freely, but private motor traffic has to use the Middleway ring road to travel between the different segments.
• Create pedestrianised spaces for Birmingham's night time economy.

Great Charles Street Queensway

The main purpose of the plans here is to restrict private motor traffic from crossing segment boundaries in the city centre - between the Jewellery Quarter, Westside (North) and Westside (South). This will be achieved by a bus gate on Great Charles Street Queensway outside the main building of University College Birmingham (the old College of Food), and a bus gate on Paradise Circus Queensway, under the footbridge connected Centenary Square and the Paradise development.

All parts of the city centre will still be accessible for private motor traffic from the Middleway, but the Queensway will no longer be a route through the city centre except for buses, taxis and cycles.

Colmore Row

The main changes in this area will be two bus gates, operating from 11am to 11pm, preventing private motor traffic from driving onto Colmore Row from Snow Hill Queensway. The flow of motor traffic on Church Street will be reversed, to facilitate private motor traffic access from Edmund Street to Colmore Row, with a taxi rank and coach bay. Private parking will be removed, though, to provide space for a contra-flow cycle lane, with ‘no loading at any time’ restrictions to prevent parking in the cycle lane.

The proposals should make some difference to the levels of motor traffic on Colmore Row, but Church Street may become busier with vehicles instead.

Southside

The most significant set of changes proposed in this consultation are in Southside, from Hill Street down to Hurst Street, and stretching from Bristol Street across to Pershore Street. The changes are primarily focused on delivering more pedestrianised areas for the night-time economy around Hurst Street, although there are changes to reduce permeability for private motor vehicles too. Unlike previous city centre schemes, such as the tram line along Broad Street, this scheme includes high quality provision for cycling as an alternative to the route along Hurst Street and past the Hippodrome that sometimes gets blocked by events in the pedestrianised area. If Birmingham is going to significantly increase levels of cycling, then it is important that schemes take cycling just as seriously as they take driving.

Southside - Hurst Street

The core of the scheme is the Hurst Street / Bromsgrove Street crossroads, which will become the centre of a pedestrian and cycle zone from 7pm to 7am, enforced by HVM bollards which will block motor vehicle access between those hours. Parking and loading restrictions will be put in place and Bromsgrove Street will be made one-way for motor vehicles within the pedestrianised zone. A bi-directional segregated cycle track will take cycle users from Kent Street up Hurst Street and right onto Bromsgrove Street, to a bi-directional segregated cycle track along Pershore Street, to help cycle users reach New Street Station. The existing route on Hurst Street past the Hippodrome will still be open, but the contra-flow approaching the Hippodrome will feel more comfortable because there will be no parked cars and no delivery vans creating obstructions.

Southside - Hill Street

The other significant change that most people will notice is on Hill Street between Smallbrook Queensway and Station Street. This section of Hill Street will be made two-way again, but with a bus gate blocking everything except buses, taxis and cycles (private motor traffic on Hinckley Street will be only be allowed to turn right to head up Hill Street, rather than turning down to Smallbrook Queensway). This will stop some of the flow of private motor traffic from Smallbrook Queensway to the drop-off area for New Street Station, but there may be an increase in motor traffic accessing the station via Navigation Street. Whether the frequent traffic jams in this area can be resolved remains to be seen.

Southside - Wrentham Street (Bristol Road cycle track)

The change that may be appreciated most by users of the Bristol Road cycle track, though, will be on Wrentham Street, which will be closed to motor traffic between the A38 and Henstead Street, removing the danger to cycle users on the cycle track from car drivers failing to give way as the cycle track crosses to Kent Street. This will be a very significant safety upgrade that we have been calling for since the original consultations several years ago. It is one of the most dangerous locations on the route and has featured in several video submissions I have made to the police via the NextBase website.

Digbeth

The main change in this area is to Lower Trinity Street, making this street one-way with a contraflow cycle lane. In addition, the street will become a pedestrianised zone between 6pm and 4am, to create space for the night-time economy that is developing in the area. The street already has temporary vehicle barriers at either end, which have been in place for at least 1 year, and these proposals would formalise this experiment, and ensure that cycle users have access along the street when motor vehicles aren’t permitted.

In addition to this, there will be raised junction tables installed on Heath Mill Lane and Floodgate street, and traffic calming chicanes with cycle bypasses. ‘No loading’ restrictions will be implemented for the raised junction tables, the contra-flow cycle lane and some of the traffic calming chicanes, to discourage parked motor vehicles blocking these areas.

Areas for improvement

Southside

Signposting to inform cycle users when the route past the Hippodrome is closed

The bi-directional track along Pershore Street has been designed as an alternative route for cycle users for when the cycle route past the Hippodrome is closed due to events taking place in the public square. To use the alternative route, cycle users will need to turn at Station Street and Bromsgrove Street, but they may not be able to see the closure until they have gone past those turnings. There should be structures for diversionary signs installed both on Hill Street and Hurst Street which can be used when the space outside the Hippodrome is closed to tell cycle users that they will need to take the alternative route. Especially on Hill Street, cycle users could need to take a substantial back-track up Hill Street when they find the route is closed. These signposts need to be prominent and eye-catching, so they should not be considered part of cycle route way-finding signs that we have been promised for the last 10 years.

Wrentham Street

The current plans make it difficult for cycle users heading up Wrentham Street towards Bristol Street to join the cycle track. There needs to be some gaps in the kerb to permit cycle users to join the cycle track from Wrentham Street.

HVM bollards at Hurst Street / Claybrook Street junction

These bollards are placed too high up Hurst Street, and will permit cars to drive through part of the pedestrian and cycle zone while it is in operation. Cars will be able to access the end of Kent Street, and become stuck on the wrong side of the HVM bollards there. We think that the HVM bollards should be placed just after the junction of Hurst Street and Skinner Lane, so that there is more consistent enforcement of the pedestrian and cycle zone, and no risk of cars getting trapped on Kent Street.

Hurst Street / Bromsgrove Street junction

We think that the physical island at the mouth of Hurst Street will create issues for cycle users leaving the bi-directional cycle track to continue along Hurst Street, as it will force them to take a sharper turn around it than they would have if it was not there. The majority of cycle users will pass that physical island on the wrong side, as they won’t want to have to swing around it. It would be better to not include that physical island, giving cycle users more space to enter Hurst Street and reducing chances of people hitting the island.

Thorpe Street

The plans propose widening the pavement and narrowing the carriageway on Thorpe Street, but they seem to have missed the fact that there is a contraflow cycle facility on Thorpe Street which could be impacted by the narrowing of the carriageway. We want the plans to be reviewed, to check whether the narrower width of the carriageway would be acceptable for having a cycle contraflow, and if it wouldn't, then we want the highway width to be maintained so the cycle contraflow can remain.

Hinckley Street Right Turn

The plans include reducing the radii on this junction to enforce the no left turn, but the plans will exempt taxis and cycles from that ban. It would be better to include taxis in the ban so that the physical infrastructure can be properly designed to enforce the no left turn, rather than having to be compromised on to facilitate taxis turning.

Station Street / Hill Street junction

It is unclear how the left turn only, except for buses, taxis and cycles, from Station Street onto Hill Street will be enforced, as the one-way section of Station Street opposite is open to general motor traffic too. We worry it will be difficult to fine drivers of ordinary cars who chose to drive straight across to continue on Station Street, and think that drivers might successfully appeal the fines. It would probably be better to maintain a left turn only for all traffic except cycles, and keep a gap in the central island to allow cycle users to go straight across the junction and turn right.

Traffic calming chicanes on

• Gooch Street North, between Kent Street and Bromsgrove Street
• Wrentham Street, between Gooch Street and Sherlock Street

Unlike the other traffic calming chicanes in the plans, these locations do not appear to have any double yellow lines and no loading restrictions. If motor traffic is permitted to park up against the chicanes, then the cycle by-passes will be blocked. There should be parking restrictions put in place to keep the cycle by-passes open.

Great Charles Street Queensway

With the narrowing of the roads, it is likely that the number of people making informal crossings from the front of the UCB building towards Paradise Circus Queensway will increase. We think it would be a good idea to put in formal crossings to provide safety for the people who are crossing there.

(Edited 13th August, following an update from BCC) The plans appear to show a section of cycle track on the pavement from Great Charles Street Queensway around to Paradise Circus Queensway. This cycle track was included as an indication of space that would be available if needed for increasing cycle connectivity in the future. We should not take this as indicating that only that one piece of space would be available in the future, and it is good that future cycle connectivity is being given some consideration. However, we would like BCC and the West Midlands Combined Authority to be able to produce future cycle connectivity plans that allow current schemes to include designs that will accommodate future schemes without needing the kerbs to be dug up again and again.

Digbeth

The proposals include raised tables at junctions on Heath Mill Lane and Floodgate Street. We want Birmingham City Council to use sinusoidal ramps as default for all raised tables and speed humps, as they are more comfortable for cycle users and motor vehicles that are travelling at slow speeds.