Tag: School Road

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Kings Heath & Moseley Places for People (LTN) -approved at cabinet

On Tuesday members of the City Council Cabinet approved the Outline Business case for the Kings Heath and Moseley Places for People (LTN) project. The team who prepared the report and who will deliver the project have today published a list of frequently asked questions for residents and businesses on the council website. It includes links to other documents and studies that may be of interest and help to explain the rationale and aims of the scheme.

The timeline above shows the expected progress – the next stage being preparation of the detailed designs for the LTN, Billesley Lane Traffic Calming, Addison Road bus gate and extension of the 20 mph zone.

Please do email Councillor Knowles at izzy.knowles@birmingham.gov.uk if you have further questions.

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Kings Heath and Moseley Places for People – latest

Birmingham City Council has published the outline business case for the second phase of the Kings Heath and Moseley Places for People scheme, setting out the next steps in the process. The business case will be presented to cabinet on 17th January. If approved the plans will see the following introduced and we will keep residents and businesses informed as to the next steps:

• Modal filters and one-way streets at various locations across the area

• A bus gate, on Addison Road

• Traffic calming along Billesley Lane

• All roads within the area, including boundary roads, to have a 20mph speed limit

BCC says: ‘Further localised consultation will be carried out on the bus gate, traffic calming and 20mph speed limit and there will be statutory consultation carried out later in 2023 on any Traffic Regulation Orders required to implement the schemes’.

If approved the scheme will now be delivered under a permanent Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) rather than an Experimental Order as was previously proposed. BCC say: ‘Proceeding with a permanent TRO will still afford citizens and stakeholders a right to make a submission to the statutory consultation process (in advance of implementation)’.
The full report can be seen here.

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Izzy & Radley lobby for more Moseley roads to be included on the councils resurfacing programme.

The Council has published its proposed list of roads and footways for resurfacing treatments in the 2021/22 Highway Maintenance Works Programme.

The list has a total of 183 carriageway and footway schemes across the City, but disappointingly Moseley only gets three of them. The roads to be done are School Road, Stoney Lane and Yew Tree Road. While we very much welcome the inclusion of these three roads, with around 150 roads in total in Moseley, having just three resurfaced and no footways done, is not good for our area. Last year only one road in the ward, Belle Walk was re-surfaced so at this rate it would take over 50 years to reach the whole ward without even thinking of footpath resurfacing.


Izzy and Radley have submitted petitions signed by local residents to Kevin Hicks, the Assistant Director of Highways and Infrastructure at Birmingham City Council for both Chantry Road and Anderton Park Road to be added to this years list. Chantry Road is a cycle route and school street with a very poor and dangerous surface. Anderton Park Road is similarly also full of potholes, especially the section between Stoney Lane and Woodstock Road and is also a street used by school pupils. Pot holes and splits in the tarmac are not only dangerous for cyclists and motor cyclists they also cause damage to vehicles so increasing pollution in our atmosphere.

You can sign the petitions here:

Chantry Road Anderton Park Road

The Council are asking for feedback on the programme, so there is still a chance to change it – please let us know if there are other roads you would like us to lobby to be added to the programme and we will push hard for them to be done, if not this year then included in the next round of investment .
The Council anticipate that this years programme will commence towards the end of August 2021, but timing is still to be confirmed.

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School Road Closure – latest

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Following my last blog on this matter (see post November 1st) I made further representations to the Council Officers, and to Councillor Jenkins, calling for a full consultation to take place and an updated traffic impact statement to be prepared before the experimental scheme is put in place (see copy email I sent below).
Residents have now received a letter from our Councillors regarding the experimental closure:
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It is disappointing that no formal consultation will take place
I welcome the proposed drop in engagement event on Friday 11th January and that the matter is now being progressed, but I am disappointed, as are many residents, who have contacted me since, that, despite multiple representations and earlier promises , a more formal consultation has not been conducted to involve the wider community who will be affected by this.
I will ask that the information be made available at other events, for example via Moseley Forum or at the Moseley Exchange as not everyone is going to be in a position to attend on 11th January or have access to the online documents.
I will also continue to call for an up to date traffic impact assessment to take into account the affect on surrounding roads especially near to the schools.
You can access some information on line  here
You can also send your comments to connected@birmingham.gov.uk
Loss of School Crossing Patrols
A further concern that needs to be considered is the Council’s proposal to withdraw funding for the remaining School Crossing patrols in Birmingham. This will include patrols at both Moseley and Kings Heath. You can see more about this proposal and comment on it in the recent council budget, which is out for consultation. (See page 41).
Petition:
A local resident has started a petition calling for better consultation for Moseley and Kings Heath residents about the School Road proposal and traffic management in general.
You can view and sign it if you wish here:
My email:
From: Izzy Knowles 
Subject: Re: School Road Traffic Issues
Date: 4 November 2018 at 00:03:00 GMT
To: Councillor Kerry Jenkins 
Cc: Joe Green  Gill Brook 

 

Dear Joe & Gill
I would like to make some representations please and I also have some more questions:
Firstly:
Consultation:
On reading your update I was surprised when you said no formal consultation will take place prior to the experimental order, and instead it would be an ongoing consultation during the implementation of the scheme.  Since I communicated your recent update to residents a number of people have expressed their concern to me that they feel this scheme is being pushed through without  their having been given the chance to formally comment on the proposals. I believe that the Councillors have also received similar emails.
I have now looked back through previous correspondence and re-read the letter Gill emailed in July which I circulated to some residents at the time (I attach for your info). The letter clearly gives the impression a formal consultation was to be held after the summer holidays. (It also places the closure in a different place which has also caused confusion although Gill did clarify that in a later email). Therefore mixed messages are being sent out here.
I am still very concerned, as I have been since the beginning of this process, that there are many residents who live in roads that will be directly affected, but who are still unaware of the proposal because they don’t use email or social media. Your proposed letter notifying them of the implementation of the experimental scheme will be the first they will be informed of what is happening. I anticipate some will not be very happy at not having been formally consulted, and the scheme being experimental will not appease them.
Therefore I would urge you to please re-consider and conduct a formal consultation scheme prior to the experimental scheme beginning.
Secondly:
Traffic Impact studies:
The scheme is being implemented in order to stop dangerous driving in School Road between Prospect Road and Valentine Road. The main issue is when drivers meet each other head on, due to parked vehicles and the narrow road and vehicles are driven onto the pavement or road rage incidents occur. This is a real problem and I totally support the School Road Traffic Issues residents in their desire to make this road safer.
The proposed scheme to close off part of School Road further down past Greenhill Road will undoubtedly reduce traffic on the entirety of School Road as it will no longer be used as a a convenient alternative route between Kings Heath and Moseley, especially at peak times. Traffic is more likely to be local residents moving in and out of the immediate area.  However traffic is still going to be able to travel two ways along that section of School Road. Having stood and watched traffic this evening , even at a quiet time of a weekend the same problem of  cars not being able to pass each other is still occurring. What guarantee do we have that there will still not be incidents where cars meet each other on that section of road?
There is also the issue of where the displaced traffic will head at peak times, I would suggest the most likely routes will be Billesley Lane and Oxford Road. These roads are not so narrow as School Road, but have suffered from safety issues in the past, including a fatal accident in Billesley Lane ,before traffic calming measures were put in, so residents are understandably concerned at the impact of an increase of traffic.
Although the proposed scheme of closing School Road will be experimental, the outcome will hopefully be that it does the job and becomes permanent. Otherwise a lot of time and money will have been wasted.
Therefore I urge that an impact study be undertaken before the closure, to measure vehicles traveling along that section of road and to consider the displacement on both the nearest likely commuter roads (Billesley Lane and Oxford Road) and the adjoining residential through roads, (Ashfield, Greenhill, Blenheim, Prospect & Cambridge Roads) This would not only reassure residents but also provide a benchmark to measure against during the experiment.
 Other questions I have been asked:
How will the road be closed? Will it be a physical barrier such as bollards or will it be traffic regulation signs? If the former will emergency vehicles have access and how?
When is the experimental order likely to begin?  Can we please have a proposed timeline.
Thank you for your time and efforts with getting this right.
Very best wishes
Izzy

 

Izzy Knowles 
Moseley Liberal Democrats
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