Birmingham City Council (BCC) is consulting on improvements to the Vauxhall and Duddeston area, between Nechells Parkway and the railway line. This area is cut through by the B4132, running from the Middleway through the area, past Duddeston train station to connect with Nechells Parkway next to the railway. BCC say that in the past 3 years there have been 24 traffic crashes on this stretch of road, which has 3 schools along it and high levels of pavement parking. They argue that the motor traffic on this B road is a safety risk for the local residents, so measures need to be taken to improve conditions.
The consultation can be found on Birmingham BeHeard and closes on the 1st Dec 2025.
Consultation link: Vauxhall & Duddeston Road Safety Scheme.
An over-view of the proposals:
The central element of the plans is the introduction of a bus gate on Vauxhall Road, which will keep the road open for buses, taxis and bicycles while private motor traffic will have to use the main A road network to access this area. By introducing a bus gate, travel times for buses and taxis should improve substantially, while the air quality at the 3 schools in the area should be cleaner.
A modal filter on Francis Street will prevent private motor traffic by-passing the bus gate, so the local residential streets will remain quiet. The A47 Parkway cycle route from the city centre to Castle Vale uses Francis Street and Duddeston Manor Road, so maintaining quieter conditions on these roads is important for the comfort of that cycle route.
In addition to the 2 filters which will eliminate rat-running private motor traffic, 3 new zebra crossings will be built, and 2 existing crossings will be upgraded to light-controlled crossings (note that the plans don’t show those existing zebra crossings that won’t be upgraded, so there appears to be fewer crossings than there will ultimately be). Some of the side roads along the B4132 will receive raised crossings with the intention of slowing down turning motor traffic, while the mouth of Melvina Road will have a “Desire Line Improvement”, which appears from the example photo to be a coloured brick surface to indicate that people are expected to walk across the mouth of this junction. There will also be some controlled parking zones introduced plus sections where pavement parking will be restricted.
Outside the shops closest to Duddeston Station there will be a Local Travel Point with features such as secure bicycle storage and cycle hire docking stations (See the Transport for West Midlands website for more information about mobility hubs). The goal is to improve connectivity, with cycle users being able to connect with the public transport links in the area. Part of Vauxhall Road will also have a 20 mph speed limit introduced. Many of the surrounding side roads already have a 20 mph limit, but the B road doesn’t. It is not clear why the section of 20 mph only extends between the junctions of Vauxhall Road with Barrack Street and Duddeston Manor Road, but it might be connected with the location of the bus gate.
Our thoughts:
The key proposals to restrict rat-running private motor traffic and improve conditions for the local schools and residents are very good. By removing the through-route from this area, a substantial drop in private motor traffic should be seen, along with improvements in air quality and bus travel times. The new and upgraded pedestrian crossings will also make a significant contribution to improving the area for local people. We strongly support these elements of the proposal.
Although the raised tables suggested in the plans for some of the side-road junctions may have some impact on the speed of turning motor traffic, we think that it could be better to build continuous pavements to give clear priority to pedestrians, following the changes to priority at side-roads in the highway code. Coventry has used this approach (albeit on a cycle track) to make crossing side-roads easier (See the Ranty Highway Man's blog post on some of the recent cycle tracks in Coventry), and it would be good for BCC to ask Coventry about their experiences with this. A continuous pavement provides a much clearer visual cue to people driving that they need to give-way to pedestrians crossing, as per the highway code. As building a raised table will require substantial work to the junction mouth anyway, there would not be a substantial increase in costs from switching to making the pavement continuous.
The proposal for a local travel point near to Duddeston train station is a good idea. With the reduction in motor traffic in this area, conditions for cycling should improve, so hopefully more people will take advantage of the improvements in connectivity. It would be better to extend the 20mph speed limit along the whole length of this B road, to further improve cycling conditions in this area. With the reduction in private motor traffic, there will be more opportunities for taxis to reach 30 mph or perhaps higher, so it would be good to slow down these motor vehicles to improve comfort and safety for people walking and cycling here.
