Birmingham Cycle Revolution South and West Cycle Routes - Alcester Road Corridor - Birmingham City Council

Feedback updated 11 Aug 2015

We asked

Consulting on proposals to improve the cycling facilities on A435 Alcester Road and other roads in the South of Birmingham.

You said

Your (123) responses were gratefully received and will form part of the decision making process.

We did

The Cycling Consultations that took place have formed the Birmingham Bike Scheme, which went live in April. If you would like more information please email: cycling@birmingham.gov.uk

Overview

Consulting on proposals to improve the cycling facilities on A435 Alcester Road and other roads in the South of Birmingham.

The map below shows the Alcester Road corridor and you can click on the shapes to see detailed plans. If you zoom out, you will also see details of our other cycle route consultations. To respond to these, you will need to visit their counsultation pages:

Bristol Street corridor (plans BS-1 to BS-9 and BS-N)
Harborne Road corridor (plans HR-1 to HR-18 and HR-O)
Soho Road corridor (plans SR-1 to SR-20, SR-P, SR-Q and SR-R)

The Alcester Road route follows the A435 Alcester Road from Howard Road in Kings Heath into the city centre via Moseley Road, Leopold Street and Macdonald Steet connecting to existing cycle routes in Hurst Street. The route comprises mandatory and advisory cycle lanes linked to sections of existing bus lane. Additional features such as advanced stop lines and banned vehicle turns are proposed to help improve junction safety. An existing pelican crossing will be upgraded to offer a safer controlled crossing of the ring road for cyclists at Highgate Middleway. Car parking is being removed in some places to enable cycle lanes to be installed. Any proposed changes to parking and junction arrangements will be reviewed following collection of survey data and modelling of potential impacts prior to detailed design.

Improvements are also taking place on roads parallel to Alcester Road to give cyclists quieter, alternative route options.

Details of specific proposals can be found by opening the plans linked in the map above. The text below tells you more general information about the sorts of changes we are proposing and a guide to cycling infrastructure (including pictures) can be downloaded at the bottom of this page.

Please note that a separate scheme is being drawn up for the Kings Heath High Street section of this route, so no measures will be implemented as part of Birmingham Cycle Revolution. Read more about emerging plans for the High Street on the Enjoy Kings Heath website.

Main Road Proposals

The main road improvements will provide fast, direct cycle routes with priority over side roads to allow cyclists to travel more safely. This will include marked cycle lanes on the carriageway, shared pavements for pedestrians and cyclists, bus lanes that can be used by cyclists, and short diversions to avoid complicated junctions or other locations that are difficult for cyclists to pass through. Where there isn't enough space for marked cycle lanes (e.g. in some local centres), then other measures will be introduced to make it safer for cyclists to cycle on the road.

Parallel Routes Proposals

Parallel routes will mainly be identified by signing and road markings only, but might also include marked cycle lanes or shared pavements for pedestrians and cyclists, changed priorities at junctions, controlled crossings where routes cross main roads, and measures to reduce vehicle speeds in some places.

Potential Impacts

In addition to providing significant improvements for cyclists and pedestrians, proposals for main routes could impact on properties and road users on these routes in the following ways:

Changes to parking restrictions including banning parking in some locations and the loss of some on-street parking - this could mean some people park on side roads or other locations instead;
New waiting and loading restrictions, including some existing on-street facilities being moved or removed;
Major junction works at key locations along the routes; and
New junction layouts to give priority to cyclists, including banning of some turning movements, such as right turns.