Integrated public transport access scheme to cost £11m
Mar 19 2009 by Anna Blackaby, Birmingham Post
Two of the companies bidding for Birmingham City Council’s highways maintenance contract will carry out a multimillion-pound integrated road scheme to improve transport access involving Solihull, Birmingham International Airport, NEC and Birmingham International railway station.
Highway service provider Ringway and highways consultant WSP – both part of Birmingham Street Services – are to carry out the £11million transport scheme, which will also include new facilities for cyclists and pedestrians. Design work will be carried out by WSP, with Ringway responsible for procurement and delivery.
The scheme, funded by the Department for Transport, will be managed through the Solihull Strategic Highways Contract for Solihull Council. It will also improve access to the rail and air terminals and the NEC from Solihull.
The programme includes new traffic-light controlled junctions with bus and coach priority, new access to the airport with bus lanes, road widening, improved road infrastructure around Birmingham International station, CCTV cameras, vehicle management systems, new signage and retaining walls.
Advanced GPS technology will link buses with screens in and around the rail and airport terminals, the NEC and surrounding bus stops, providing real-time information on bus movements and timetables to passengers. The project will also include enhanced bus and coach facilities at Birmingham International Station with a bus-only link road from Bickenhill Lane, upgraded bus shelters and better cyclist and pedestrian access.
Solihull’s cabinet member for transport, highways and infrastructure, Councillor Ted Richards said this was a fantastic scheme for the area. “Not only will it improve links between the north and south of the borough but it will also improve employment opportunities by linking regeneration areas,” he said. “We want to encourage people to use public transport rather than car, and this scheme will do just that by improving routes and the number of services, as well as decreasing congestion, which will make journeys by public transport more reliable.”
