Monday, December 11, 2023 - 08:00 to Friday, December 15, 2023 - 17:00
VolkerFitzpatrick are undertaking repair works to the towpath opposite the new University Station from Monday, December 11, 2023 - 08:00 to Friday, December 15, 2023 - 17:00
Sunday, January 16, 2022 - 00:00 to Monday, January 17, 2022 - 05:30
The towpath will be closed between Somerset Road and Westgate on the Worcester and Birmingham Canal. A diversion will be in place via Farquhar Road and Vincent Drive. This is to facilitate work on the new University station. For more details:
The flight of steps that is the canal tow-path access at University station are being replaced. I would like to be able to tell you they are being replaced with a wheelchair-friendly, cycle-friendly ramp, like that at Bournville, but of course this being Birmingham, plenty of spurious reasons were found for not doing this. My personal favourite is that this is the site of a Roman fort. The fort has long-since disappeared under a canal, a railway, roads, a car park, and buildings, but this is sufficient to render doing a proper job "completely impossible".
It took persistent badgering of councillors by Push Bikes, particularly Tahir Ali, who seemed annoyed that someone was determinedly complaining about having to cycle along a very narrow path through an unlit tunnel, even though that path is Birmingham's idea of a strategic cycle route and takes traffic off the overloaded A38. Apparently it required negotiation and the seeking of funding.
At the end of the Harborne Walkway there is an old railway bridge under Northbrook Street which linked up to a rail bridge over the canal to take the trains to New Street Station. This railway bridge has been bricked up and buried for many years, but recently AMEY have uncovered the buried end to undertake strengthening works on the brickwork. Coincidentally, the Birmingham Cycle Revolution local connections scheme is widening a pathway next to this location to improve the connection between Summerfield Park and the canal access steps at Northbrook Street.
