Birmingham unveils plans to remove cars from the city centre

[beesonthewhatnow]

This has been mentioned in the B'ham local thread, but deserves wider attention/debate.

Birmingham transport plan | Birmingham transport plan | Birmingham City Council

Transport plan for Birmingham

www.birmingham.gov.uk

Will be awesome if it happens

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Guardian have picked up on this:

Birmingham could ban cars from driving through city centre

Proposal would involve rerouting traffic to ring road in effort to improve air quality

www.theguardian.com

"More than one in four of Birmingham’s residents are obese, the highest proportion in the country, according to Birmingham University. The report says about a third of adults in the city spend less than 30 minutes each week on physical activity and that the average driver lost 134 hours in congestion in 2018. A study published last year says primary school children who grow up in Birmingham could lose half a year of their lives due to illegal levels of air pollution in the city."

 

[kebabking]

I don't live in Birmingham so I don't really care, but if the retail economy in Brum wants visiting shoppers, they'll need to pull their finger out with things like Park and Ride: we did a shopping day from out in the sticks between Christmas and New Year, and assumed it would be easy to do a park and ride to avoid driving into Birmingham city centre - well, guess what? There weren't any at all on the south or west sides of the city.

It would have meant driving most of the way around the M42 to get to a park and ride - which I'm not absolutely sure is the idea...

I have no problem whatsoever with Birmingham deciding to go car free (driving around the centre was horrific, took about 45 minutes and parking cost £12, so not an experience I enjoyed) but if it wants to keep people going there to spend money in it's shops and keeping its people employed, it needs to make getting there easy - and not just from other cities, but from the huge swathes of its surrounding areas that simply don't have public transport.

 

[FridgeMagnet]

I don't live in Birmingham so I don't really care, but if the retail economy in Brum wants visiting shoppers, they'll need to pull their finger out with things like Park and Ride: we did a shopping day from out in the sticks between Christmas and New Year, and assumed it would be easy to do a park and ride to avoid driving into Birmingham city centre - well, guess what? There weren't any at all on the south or west sides of the city.

It would have meant driving most of the way around the M42 to get to a park and ride - which I'm not absolutely sure is the idea...

I have no problem whatsoever with Birmingham deciding to go car free (driving around the centre was horrific, took about 45 minutes and parking cost £12, so not an experience I enjoyed) but if it wants to keep people going there to spend money in it's shops and keeping its people employed, it needs to make getting there easy - and not just from other cities, but from the huge swathes of its surrounding areas that simply don't have public transport.

I haven't read through it thoroughly but the draft transport plan does seem to include a lot more than this, including various improvements to public transport. This particular part is a headline-grabber though.

I've only ever been to Birmingham twice so I can't really say a lot about how effective or otherwise the plan looks to be, though to be fair I did do a lot of walking around the city centre when I was there (taking photos of protests at the Tory conference).

 

[davesgcr]

Went and had a mooch with some friends last week (New Library with the restored Shakespeare Room etc)

Being sad ex railway , we really wanted to try the tram extension past the Town Hall to the new terminus. It is battery powered (no overheads) , and weaves a tortuous route up a 1-10 gradient. We rode from Great Charles St.

The tram is great now that it properly accesses part of the City Centre , with more to come. Much more I hope. There are plans

he railway local service is improved but has issues recently , but needs more attention. And investment. HS2 will clear paths on both eastern and western legs.

I am old enough to recall the opening of the (diesel) Cross City line , much lauded as a boost for rail in "car city" - and that was 1977. Had it's moments but a great overall success.

My late father in law was in his career , both a Bham bus driver and a Black cab driver. He would approve of this.


So we got the train to Wolverhampton and went to the fine Great Western pub for pints of beer and cheese and onion rolls.

 

[BigTom]

I don't live in Birmingham so I don't really care, but if the retail economy in Brum wants visiting shoppers, they'll need to pull their finger out with things like Park and Ride: we did a shopping day from out in the sticks between Christmas and New Year, and assumed it would be easy to do a park and ride to avoid driving into Birmingham city centre - well, guess what? There weren't any at all on the south or west sides of the city.

It would have meant driving most of the way around the M42 to get to a park and ride - which I'm not absolutely sure is the idea...

I have no problem whatsoever with Birmingham deciding to go car free (driving around the centre was horrific, took about 45 minutes and parking cost £12, so not an experience I enjoyed) but if it wants to keep people going there to spend money in it's shops and keeping its people employed, it needs to make getting there easy - and not just from other cities, but from the huge swathes of its surrounding areas that simply don't have public transport.

Longbridge park and ride is meant to fully open in the next couple of months. No ideas if they are on schedule though.

Park and Ride

We provide over 9,000 parking spaces across the West Midlands at train stations and tram stops to reduce congestion. Find out how we're expanding Park & Ride.

www.tfwm.org.uk

Northfield and Selly Oak train stations both have car parks as well, but they are almost certainly filled with commuters on weekdays.

I'm very happy with more being done to restrict vehicles in the city centre, i just hope it comes with more cycle infrastructure as well as continued investment in public transport.

Bus services should be improved simply by reducing the amount of traffic heading into the centre. Continued expansion of the tram network and, for me, the reopening of the kings heath/Moseley train branch line for passenger traffic would be great.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

BigTom i understand that the camp hill line is due to open (re-open) in 2022. The problem is that the proposal is for two train per hour until connecting chords to Moor Street can be realised. That’s going to be London tube at rush hour stuff I think. But once fully connected then a massive plus for those of us over here

You, and others, are right that the litmus test here will be how much investment is made in public transport and how affordable is it. Getting round the centre itself isn’t an issue for me - it’s small enough to walk or cycle around or get the tram if you need to. From where you and me live we’ve got the 50 bus which is going to get a new expanded bus lane all the way through Moseley Road.

 

[StoneRoad]

Fine idea - hope it happens.

Little brother lives in Brum, and works for the railways (not actually on them anymore) and was also involved with Cross City in the early years. He walks / trains / buses around Brum as he can't drive a car !

 

[BigTom]

BigTom i understand that the camp hill line is due to open (re-open) in 2022. The problem is that the proposal is for two train per hour until connecting chords to Moor Street can be realised. That’s going to be London tube at rush hour stuff I think. But once fully connected then a massive plus for those of us over here

You, and others, are right that the litmus test here will be how much investment is made in public transport and how affordable is it. Getting round the centre itself isn’t an issue for me - it’s small enough to walk or cycle around or get the tram if you need to. From where you and me live we’ve got the 50 bus which is going to get a new expanded bus lane all the way through Moseley Road.

Great I have not heard anything more of the plans to re-open the line since they were announced and wondered if it had been shelved. You're absolutely right about the connecting chords to Moor Street, I'm hoping that once the stations are re-opened and in use, the cost/benefit of building the connecting chords will get much better, along with proof of the demand for the service.

Like you say, we've got decent bus services, and the Rae Valley Route is ok for cycling. It's people living further out who will need more support the most.

Worth just noting though that some headlines are getting this wrong - cars won't be banned from the city centre, they will be prevented from driving through the city centre. So you can still enter by car but only to actually go to somewhere in the centre, not to cut through it to get to the other side. So you go in on one road, and you'll have to go back out to the ring road the same way, you won't be able to go through town to get to a different road out of town. I think this will affect all vehicles, not just cars.

 

[toblerone3]

London should do the same. It is completely archaic to see the numbers of cars in the West End. Cars in Soho FFS.

 

[Smokeandsteam]

Great I have not heard anything more of the plans to re-open the line since they were announced and wondered if it had been shelved. You're absolutely right about the connecting chords to Moor Street, I'm hoping that once the stations are re-opened and in use, the cost/benefit of building the connecting chords will get much better, along with proof of the demand for the service.

Like you say, we've got decent bus services, and the Rae Valley Route is ok for cycling. It's people living further out who will need more support the most.

Worth just noting though that some headlines are getting this wrong - cars won't be banned from the city centre, they will be prevented from driving through the city centre. So you can still enter by car but only to actually go to somewhere in the centre, not to cut through it to get to the other side. So you go in on one road, and you'll have to go back out to the ring road the same way, you won't be able to go through town to get to a different road out of town. I think this will affect all vehicles, not just cars.

Yes, Street has been highlighting the Camp Hill Line in his pre-election campaigning (along with his threats to strip West Midlands Trains of their contract). I use the bus and the Bristol Road and Rea Valley cycle lanes already so once the bus lane work is done on Moseley Road and the new train is running our part of the City should be pretty good for getting into town.

In terms of the attempt to stop cross city journeys that's already coming under pressure, with critics pointing out it's likely to create two stationary corridors of traffic around the city. I can see that being the case, so I think the plan should be to become a car free city centre. I say this for two reasons: allowing cars in means public transport still gets stuck in it and secondly this has got to be about changing cultures rather than seeking to half accommodate the car obsession. Until people understand that they can't use their car to come in they will keep bringing it in and just sit in more and more congestion.

 

[Winot]

Interesting article about how transport policy in Ghent influenced Birmingham (and yes, I know that one is a larger city than the other):

How a Belgian port city inspired Birmingham's car-free ambitions

Ghent’s overnight transformation produced shorter journeys, cleaner air and a cycling explosion

www.theguardian.com

 

[stavros]

I've not heard it if so, but has anyone ever floated a version of what Paris and a number of other French cities have done? French number plates are odd or even, and they did alternate days where only one was allowed in the inner parts of the city. I'm not sure how this could work with the UK registration system.

 

[BigTom]

Approved by the council, now we learn exactly what the plans are and have a consultation period before they are implemented:

Radical tranport plan to drive more cars out of Birmingham unveiled

"The car is no longer king in this city" - 'bold and brave' vision for car-free city centre launched. Council also want 20mph speed limits in residential areas as part of ten year masterplan.

www.birminghammail.co.uk

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

The speed of any rollout will be interesting.

20 mph limits on all urban roads could be done pretty much overnight.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

All the usual dickheads on social media are howling at how closing the tunnels will "paralyse" the city.

Except a couple of years ago when they did just that for a few months to repair them everything carried on just fine. The first couple of days were a pain, then everyone found new routes.

 

[BigTom]

yep. Also people saying how the city centre will die if no-one can drive in to shop. Except everyone will still be able to drive in to shop, you just won't be able to drive through the city centre.

Also thumbs up for workplace parking levy to pay for east birmingham metro extension. It's an ideal way to incentivise companies to help workers to cycle/walk/use public transport, and getting trams out through east Birmingham would be great (with my constant call for getting trams that you can fucking take bikes on ffs)

 

[SpookyFrank]

I seem to recall Birmingham city centre having a fucking great dual carriageway right through the middle, making travelling around on foot a grim prospect.

 

[kebabking]

I seem to recall Birmingham city centre having a fucking great dual carriageway right through the middle, making travelling around on foot a grim prospect.

Oh it is, it's also a vile place to drive around.

If you started off with blank peice of paper and started to plan a city where people could move around in different ways without getting in each others way, absolutely nothing you wrote or sketched out would look anything like Birmingham city centre.

 

[Nivag]

I've not heard it if so, but has anyone ever floated a version of what Paris and a number of other French cities have done? French number plates are odd or even, and they did alternate days where only one was allowed in the inner parts of the city. I'm not sure how this could work with the UK registration system.

They do this in Bogota, all the rich people now own 2 cars so they've got the appropriate number plate for the enforced day.

 

[BigTom]

I seem to recall Birmingham city centre having a fucking great dual carriageway right through the middle, making travelling around on foot a grim prospect.

Has improved since they started to tear up the concrete collar, and this is another big step in doing that. The centre has definitely expanded well into the jewellery quarter and you have to cross the A38 to get from the centre to the jewellery quarter. This will change that. They are also talking about pedestrianising the bit around moor street, removing another section of dual carraigeway (I dunno if this will happen but I expect it will become bus only at the least). Yesterday, central govt. approved plans to extend the tram up Digbeth high street, which is currently a 2 lane + bus lane dual carraigeway, and will be flattened out and lose a general traffic lane (we need to fight to get a proper segregated cycle lane put in ).

So yeah, you're right, but things have improved hugely since I moved here in 97. If you went to the Birmingham RTS G8 demo in 1998, that roundabout system no longer exists. I might miss things about the old bullring shopping centre compared to the new one, but nobody misses the underpasses you used to have to walk through to get to the markets and digbeth. We're heading in the right direction, and this plan should be another set of steps in the right way.

 

[a_chap]

Due to me having a new job I commuted to Birmingham for the first time today.

Initial impressions:

• New Street station is quite big
• No-one looks happy
• Where are all the cyclists? It was a 15 minute walk from the station to the office and I saw exactly one person on a bike.
• Snow Hill station is a much nicer size than New Street
• er....
• That's it

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

All the cylists avoid the city centre because riding round it at the moment is utterly, utterly horrible.

And yes, the revamped New St is massive. And a much nicer place to be than the old one

 

[cybershot]

Due to me having a new job I commuted to Birmingham for the first time today.

Initial impressions:

• No-one looks happy

Because we’re all late thanks to West Midlands trains shoddy service.

 

[SpookyFrank]

And yes, the revamped New St is massive. And a much nicer place to be than the old one

I bet the actual platforms still have that whole 'nuclear apocalypse' vibe going on though.

 

[kebabking]

I bet the actual platforms still have that whole 'nuclear apocalypse' vibe going on though.

I've not been into he new New Street STN, but Christ the old one was depressing as fuck - so bloody dark. If you got on at Glasgow Central, which is almost built of light, and got off at New Street, which is/was like the armpit of a Moscow bomb shelter, it was a most unpleasant experience.

 

[beesonthewhatnow]

I bet the actual platforms still have that whole 'nuclear apocalypse' vibe going on though.

It's nothing like as bad as it used to be. As part of the renovation they got rid of a lot of the walls creating a much more open space - if there's no trains in the way you can see across from platform 1 all the way over to 12. It's still not perfect but they did a pretty good job considering the limitations they had to work with.

 

[purenarcotic]

Due to me having a new job I commuted to Birmingham for the first time today.

Initial impressions:

• New Street station is quite big
• No-one looks happy
• Where are all the cyclists? It was a 15 minute walk from the station to the office and I saw exactly one person on a bike.
• Snow Hill station is a much nicer size than New Street
• er....
• That's it

I can’t say I’ve ever been anywhere where everyone looks smiley and happy, have you? It’s January, it’s cold and it’s several days till payday so everyone is skint.

 

[two sheds]

I used New Street Station in the early 70s. Fuck me but it was grim outside - petrol and diesel fumes choking you as the cars and buses crawled past the grimy buildings. I could hardly believe how much nicer it was when I went a few years ago. No traffic outside, no fumes, clean buildings, pleasant shopping centre (and I don't say that often). Good luck to them.

 

[stavros]

I've not heard it if so, but has anyone ever floated a version of what Paris and a number of other French cities have done? French number plates are odd or even, and they did alternate days where only one was allowed in the inner parts of the city. I'm not sure how this could work with the UK registration system.

This is the sort of thing I'm referring to (link in French). On days when air pollution is particularly high, only electrics and the lowest emitters are permitted on the streets of Saint-Etienne.