Feature
Connecting The Midlands
Getting Birmingham moving once more
Following the Covid-19 outbreak, plans have been drawn up identifying the key ways Birmingham City Council can get the city moving again.
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic. The transport plan also identified the short and long term that actions
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the city must to take to ensure the recovery from the crisis is as environmentally friendly as possible. The plan prioritises some of the measures that were outlined in the draft Birmingham Transport Plan that was consulted on earlier this year. These include four Big Moves:
1. Reallocating road space – supporting the creation of safe spaces for walking and cycling while considering the need for social distancing and maintaining public transport provision
irmingham City Council recently launched its Emergency Transport Plan. This outlined a series of measures to support walking, cycling and public transport through the city as a direct response to the
2. Transforming the city centre – creating walking and cycling routes alongside public transport services while limiting access for private cares
3. Prioritising active travel in local neighbourhoods – walking and cycling should be the main way most people travel throughout their local area, and these become places that foster stronger communities
4. Managing demand through parking measures – repurposing land currently used for parking and creating spaces for walking, cycling and social distancing. The latest proposals announced to help achieve these Big Moves include: • Evaluating the key route network and other roads to identify any opportunities to convert space to support walking, cycling or public transport
• Reallocating road space for cycle lanes – the first of which will link the city centre to City Hospital (via the Jewellery Quarter)
• Accelerating the roll-out of the traffic cells initiative in the city centre and the delivery of a street-space rationalisation programme across key areas
• Introducing active, low traffic neighbourhoods to Birmingham • Providing support packages for local schools and businesses to encourage sustainable travel for students/staff while enabling social distancing.
Cabinet member for transport and environment, councillor Waseem Zaffar, said: “Covid-19 has greatly impacted our city. We must now ensure our city is well prepared to provide all our communities with the opportunity to deliver a green, sustainable recovery. Transport and connectivity is critical to that and our Emergency Birmingham Transport Plan is the first step to this response. “We must learn from the lockdown and consider how we can get our city
moving in a safe, healthy and effective way. During the lockdown period, road traffic across Birmingham has reduced by 60 per cent over several weeks. This has created a quieter, safer environment for walking and cycling with much-improved air quality. “The Emergency Birmingham Transport Plan is a reset for how we move
around the city and is the start of our work to ensure we come out of the Covid-19 lockdown with the ability to travel safely, healthily and sustainably. I know our city can build a bright, healthy future – this is our chance to deliver it.”
Birmingham City Council published a draft Birmingham Transport Plan, setting out what the city needs to do differently to meet the demands of the future. However, at the end of the public consultation on that plan, the country was placed in lockdown. The Emergency Birmingham Transport Plan will not replace the Birmingham Transport Plan 2031.
For more information visit:
www.birmingham.gov.uk/ emergencytransportplan
50 CHAMBERLINK June/July 2020
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