On 1st June Clr Izzy Knowles went on a walk about with local residents, Cabinet member for Transport, Cllr Liz Clements, Cllr Jenkins and the Highways Engineer Garry Dalton to point out and discuss road traffic issues, especially speeding in Yardley Wood Road and Wake Green Road.
Izzy has made previous representations for a pedestrian crossing to be installed on Yardley Wood Road. She has also talked with the Highways Engineer about adding double yellow parking restrictions on Wake Green Road outside Moseley and St Bernards Schools.
After the walkabout she sent a further email to Birmingham City Council:
Dear B’ham Connected team
Yesterday Cllr Jenkins and I together with Cllr Clements , Highways Engineer Garry Dalton and local residents completed a walk about of Yardley Wood Road, Moseley between Swanshurst Lane/Coldbath Road and Wake Green Road.Â
This is a boundary road in the Kings Heath & Moseley Places for People scheme.Â
As part of the scheme this section of Yardley Wood Road is due to become 20mph. So is Wake Green Road from Yardley Wood Road to St Mary’s Row.
Two things were raised during the walkabout which we would be very grateful if you could consider in the final design of the scheme.
Firstly – There is a big need for a pedestrian crossing on Yardley Wood Road. This could be one of two locations – where there are currently pedestrian refuges. The first is just after the junction of Windermere Road where many families and children cross to go to Windermere Playing Fields and Moseley school and the other is opposite the entrance to Moseley Bog. I have suggested in my previous feedback to the PfP scheme that if funding is the issue the proposed pedestrian crossing on Billesley Lane could be re-located to Yardley Wood Road. My rationale for this is Billesley Lane will have chicanes and speed humps which should reduce speeding considerably, whilst Yardley Wood Road is reduced to 20mph with no further measures.
Secondly: Hayfield Road is used as a cut-through between Yardley Wood Road and Wake Green Road and a number of speeding-related collisions have occurred. It is currently 30mph. Residents there have petitioned for calming measures and are concerned traffic will increase due to the PfP scheme. Wake Green Road, between Swanshurst Lane and Yardley Wood road is currently also 30mph. There are two schools along it’s length, Moseley School and St Bernards Primary School. St Bernards in particular has reported issues with speeding including a car overturning at 8.30 am outside the school on a school day a few weeks ago. Both schools are trying to encourage pupils to walk or cycle but safety is a huge concern to staff and parents. We discussed yesterday that these two roads could be added to the TRO to also be made 20mph as part of the PfP scheme and it would not add significantly to the cost. This seems a very sensible and cost-effective action to take to address the real and increasing issue of speeding on these roads, to assist both schools with their active travel plans and reassure residents.
I look forward to hearing more about the design and the progress of the scheme in order to update residents.Â
Best wishes
Izzy
Councillor Izzy Knowles
Izzy has received a reply:
Dear Cllr Knowles,
Thank you for sharing these comments with us following your recent site visit.
I have forwarded these onto the project team responsible for producing the detailed design for the Kings Heath & Moseley Places for People project to take into account as part of this work.
We are meeting with them shortly to discuss how to keep people informed of developments over the next few months as this scheme progresses to delivery, and will update you further following this.
Regards, Joe
Joe Green
Travel Demand Manager – Transport Planning & Network Strategy
Birmingham City Council
Councillors Izzy Knowles, Philip Mills & Moseley Liberal Democrats 