Birmingham roads: Major changes planned for A38 in the city centre

The city council has said it wants to introduce a series of measures across the city centre over the next couple of years as part of a significant strategy.

These will be infrastructure and traffic management measures, such as bus gates, bollards, and turning restrictions that will be supported by signage on the approach to and within the A4540 ring road.

As Birmingham continues to transform, the council says reducing miles travelled by car will improve air quality and encourage greater use of active travel.

The local authority has now launched a consultation on a number of new proposed measures for the strategy, including plans to change where motorists can exit or join the A38 within the city centre.

The consultation page reads: “This will reduce congestion in these locations and is an important first step on the journey to downgrading the A38 and reducing the severance it brings – an aspiration outlined in the Birmingham Transport Plan.”

The proposed A38 joining and exiting changes can be seen in the image below.

The council says that when finalised, the interventions implemented as part of the strategy would lead to greater use of the ring road for private vehicle trips and a reduction of vehicle trips on local roads within the city centre.

It continued they would also complete the ‘movement and access arrangement’, which includes six traffic management areas: Jewellery Quarter, Knowledge Quarter, Eastside, Southside, Westside South and Westside North.

“Private vehicles will be able to enter each area from the ring road only,” the consultation page said. “Private vehicles will not be able to travel directly between the different areas but public transport and active travel modes will be able to.

“This means the route to a particular destination might change slightly, but all locations will remain accessible.”

The council added that it is “essential” that it frees up space previously allocated to private vehicles. “We understand that the city needs to keep moving and efficient access is essential to all,” it said.

A previous consultation was launched over the summer on other proposed measures in the city centre including a bus gate on both Great Charles Street Queensway and Colmore Row.

Residents have until next month on November 18 to respond to the new consultation. It can be found on the Birmingham Be Heard website here.