Our response to proposals for bus priority in the city centre

Filed under: Consultation

We have submitted this response to a Transport for West Midlands consultation that closes on Sunday 2 November. You can submit a reply to the consultation and point to our response.

We are in favour of improving the reliability of bus services as a means of enticing more people out of their cars and onto buses.

We would also love to see more holistic schemes developed. We believe that the quickest and cheapest way to improve the reliability of the bus network is to build a protected cycle network. We think that this would provide the biggest amount of mode shift in the shortest period of time. This would significantly reduce congestion on the roads, which ultimately is what will produce the biggest improvement in bus reliability.

Whilst we have outline issues with this scheme, we would like our response to be considered to be in favour of the scheme.

Old Snow Hill and Shadwell Street

All bus lanes should be continuous and in operation 24/7.

The proposed part-time bus lane does not attempt to second-guess when traffic build-ups may occur, and also removes the requirement for drivers to work out when the lane is in operation, increasing compliance.

There seems little benefit to the discontinuous bus lane on Summer Lane and Old Snow Hill and its disappearance may lead some drivers to think that it has ended and drift into the lane.

Given that on-street parking on Constitution Hill makes the city-bound carriageway effectively one lane, that suggests that there is no need for there to be two lanes for traffic to turn left onto the Queensway. We therefore propose there be scope to have the bus lane extend up to the roundabout with St Chad’s Circus Queensway. As bus services then turn onto Snow Hill Queensway, there could even  be a separate phase on the traffic lights at the St Chads and Snow HIll Queensway junctions, allowing buses to bypass all waiting traffic at that junction.

Rather than extend the splitter island to prohibit right turns into and out of Hampton Street, we would prefer a modal filter on Hampton Street to remove most vehicle movements.

Removing the right turn from Old Snow Hill to Shadwell Street is sensible. We propose also removing the turning lane in the opposite direction. It seems unnecessary to provide a means for traffic from Summer Lane to head north on Constitution Hill when the ring road could be used for that.

Brunel Street

Whilst providing a way for buses to avoid Holloway Circus and Smallbrook Queensway, we are concerned that unless the City Centre Movement and Access Strategy Great Charles Street Queensway package is implemented, this proposal could provide a shortcut from Parade to New Street Station and beyond.

Bath Row and Wheeley’s Lane

The success of these measures depends on the implementation of the City Centre Movement and Access Strategy to restrict routes using Smallbrook Queensway and further changes to prioritise buses around Holloway Head. Until this roundabout is de-trafficked (possibly aided with a bus gate on the Holloway Head arm), the proposed bus lanes are tinkering around the edges.

When it comes to the proposed plan, we see no reason to widen a section of Wheeleys Lane to 3 lanes, as the rest of Wheeleys Lane is proposed to be one lane. We’re concerned that these proposals seem to ignore the long-established principle of induced demand. Whilst we can understand the desire to remove congestion to improve the bus service, it has long been known that increasing road capacity will only provide a temporary relief to this.

Increasing the size of the right-turn pocket into Wheeleys Lane is similarly going to fall foul of induced demand. We actually see no reason to encourage the use of Wheeleys Lane as a shortcut from the Broad Street area, and would recommend that right-turns be banned from Bath Row.

We also see no need for Bath Row to be two-way between Bishopsgate Street and Islington Row Middleway, given that Wheeleys Lane provides full access to the Middleway.

The junction of Granville Street, Cregoe Street and Bath Row needs to be fully signalised, as movements between Cregoe Street and Granville Street are incredibly difficult. Note that there is a separated cycleway from Bristol Street to Park Central along the ring road, which can be used as a quiet route to Granville Street and the Broad Street area, however this junction currently makes the route an unattractive option.

Sherlock Street and Gooch Street

The upgrading of the painted cycleway into proper protected cycle lanes is to be greatly commended. Installing blended footway crossings and narrowing the junctions of Wrentham and Macdonald Street are also welcome improvements in pedestrian and cyclist safety, though we are adamant that the junction will remain unacceptably dangerous due to volume and speed of shortcutting traffic unless the modal filter from Bristol Street onto Wrentham Street is finally reinstated, as proposed in the City Centre Movement and Access Strategy. Adding a bus lane on the approach to the Middleway is a sensible move, though we propose that it should extend up to the pedestrian crossing traffic lights nearest Stratford House Road.

Jennens Road and Nechells Parkway

It continues to be a source of frustration that the pop-up cycle lane was removed without a replacement. We are concerned that the proposals make it incredibly difficult to have a protected cycle lane on this stretch of road. It would be possible, but would require repurposing parts of the green verges and central reservations, something which would incur significant costs and probably many objections to the loss of green space.

That frustration aside, having 24-hour bus lanes on this route is greatly welcome.

Saltley Viaduct

It feels like a missed opportunity to not make the roundabout bypass a bus lane.

Sheepcote Street and Grosvenor Street West

Whilst the addition of traffic lights to control the junction is an improvement, we think there is an opportunity to improve LCWIP Route 15 (Last Mile: Five Ways to Brindleyplace) with the lack of an upgrade to the advisory cycle lane on Grosvenor Street West.

With the tram works completed on Broad Street, Grosvenor Street should revert to one-way traffic which would create space for a protected cycle lane.

This would address an onward connectivity issue we have identified for the cycle route in the Hagley Road phase 1 proposals.

Conclusion

We would like our response to be considered in favour of this scheme, though we do hope the concerns we raise about both this specific scheme, as well as wanting to see more holistic schemes that take the bigger picture view of improving bus services by reducing overall congestion, be taken into account.

The overall benefits of these proposals in creating a prioritised bus network appears to be linked to the delivery of the City Centre Movement and Access Strategy and other schemes. It is increasingly important that all of these proposals move to delivery to move close to achieving the Birmingham Transport Plan.