40mph speed limit in Birmingham to be slashed on these 25 main roads - proposals

Birmingham City Council has launched a proposal to reduce the speed limit to 30mph across 25 main roads where the current speed limit is 40mph.

The roads include the A34 Walsall Road between Perry Barr and the Scott Arms, Monmouth Drive in Sutton Coldfield and the A38 Bristol Road South between Rubery and Rednal.

Councillor Liz Clements, cabinet member for transport, said: “We need to prioritise people and ensure communities are safer so reducing the speed on our roads is an obvious and important part of our wider plans for how people and goods move around the city.

“We know that residents are deeply concerned about road safety, especially those who live near busy main roads, so I’d encourage as many people as possible to let us know their thoughts.”

The aim is to reduce speed, improve road safety and encourage active travel such as walking and cycling. It comes after three young people have been killed on roads across Birmingham this year. In Kings Heath, road safety campaigners continue to protest in the wake of serious crashes across the city.

Shivaji Shiva, of Better Streets for Birmingham, said: “We’re demanding the council recognises this situation for the emergency that it is, and to use all the powers it has to address it.

“We want to see a serious police response to the extraordinarily bad driving causing immense strain on our streets. We want that action – and we’d like to see it now.”

Following concerns about dangerous and anti-social behaviour from drivers, authorities across the region have got together to look at what urgent action could be taken, with the council committed to reducing speed limits across the city pending consultation. The first step in the consultation process is an informal engagement with residents followed by a statutory consultation.

A council spokesperson added: “It is not proposed to have physical speed reduction measures or new enforcement cameras as part of the current project, as these would require more time and funding to deliver. Any existing speed enforcement cameras would be recalibrated to reflect the reduced speed limit.

“In future, it is expected that many of the routes will benefit from enhanced enforcement, which will ensure that driver compliance with any revised speed limits is high.

The delivery costs would be funded from the Clean Air Zone’s (CAZ) surplus income. This funding is ring fenced for use on transport schemes only and cannot be used for other purposes.”

An initial review has recommended that the Quinton Expressway and A38 (M) Aston Expressway are not included in the scheme as these two roads are designed as urban motorways and intended for large volumes of traffic for arterial routing, and a reduction in speed would be difficult to achieve. To have your say visit the survey here. It closes on November 19, 2023.

Here are the 25 Birmingham roads that could see the speed limit drop from 40mph to 30mph

• A34 Walsall Road, Perry Barr, Old Walsall Road to Old Park Walk (near Bartons Arms)
• A4041 Queslett Road/Queslett Road East, Perry Barr/Oscott/Sutton Vesey, Chester Road North to Hamble Road (approaching Scott Arms)
• A452 Chester Road, Sutton Coldfield/Erdington/Pype Hayes/Castle Vale, Greenway Drive to city boundary
• A5127 Lichfield Road, Sutton Mere Green, Bishops Way to Blake Street (city boundary)
• Webster Way, Sutton Walmley & Minworth, Walmley Ash Road to Thimble End Road
• Ox Leys Road, Sutton Walmley & Minworth, Springfield Road to Fox Hollies Road
• Walmley Ash Lane/ Cottage Lane, Sutton Walmley & Minworth, Walmley Ash Road to Lindridge Drive
• A38/B4148 Tyburn Road, Gravelly Hill, Salford Circus to Chester Road
• B4148 Eachelhurst Road, Sutton Walmley & Minworth/Pype Hayes, Chester Road to railway bridge

• A38 Kingsbury Road, Erdington/Pype Hayes, Tyburn Road to Minworth Island (also short section of A4097 Kingsbury Road)
• A4097 Kingsbury Road, Castle Vale/Pype Hayes/Sutton Coldfield, Wiggins Hill Road to city boundary
• A452 Chester Road, Castle Vale/Pype Hayes/Sutton Vesey, from the new Aldi just before the Tyburn House pub down to Newport Road
• B4147 Newport Road, Castle Vale/Pype Hayes/Sutton Vesey, Chester Road to Coleshill Road
• A47 Heartlands / Fort Parkway, Erdington/Castle Vale, Saltley Viaduct to Chester Road (Spitfire Island)
• A47 Nechells Parkway, Nechells, Ring Road to Goodrick Way including the end of Jennens Road
• A4540 Ring Road, Multiple wards, full length except where already 30mph
• A45 Small Heath Highway, Bordesley Green/Small Heath, just east of rail bridge to Heybarnes Circus

• A45 Coventry Road, Tyseley & Hay Mills/South Yardley, Heybarnes Circus to city boundary at Hatchford Brook
• Monmouth Drive, Sutton Vesey, Somerville Road through to Chester Road
• Weeford Road, Sutton Roughley, Tamworth Road to just before Camp Road
• A441 Redditch Road, Kings Norton/Longbridge & West Heath, Burford Park Road to city boundary at Longbridge Lane
• A38 Bristol Road South, Rubery/Rednal, Great Park to city boundary at Leach Green Lane
• B4121 Wolverhampton Road South, West Boulevard, Barnes Hill, Shenley Lane, Allens Cross/Bartley Green/Weoley & Selly Oak/Quinton/Harborne, Hagley Road West to near Burdock Road
• A456 Hagley Road West, Quinton, Lordswood Road to Quinton Road
• A41 Hockley Flyover, Newtown/Soho & Jewellery Quarter/Lozells, Key Hill to Soho