£50m road scheme set to start early

Jan 17 2007 By Ben Hurst, Birmingham Mail

WORK on a £50 million by-pass intended to slash congestion in Birmingham is set to get under way six months early.

Selly Oak New Road could cut traffic on the gridlocked A38 Bristol Road by 50 per cent and will take two years to complete.

The work is being brought forward because councillors are desperate to avoid a further congestion nightmare now work has started on the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

The first phase of the Selly Oak New Road is a temporary highway allowing construction traffic to get to the huge private finance initiative hospital site.

This phase will be built by Sainsbury's which is constructing a new supermarket in the area.

Failure to construct this road quickly will mean thousands of extra lorry movements on Bristol Road, crippling traffic flow.

If the city council cabinet approves the proposals at its meeting on January 22, work could start before April this year, and should be available as a construction route to the hospital site by late 2007, six months ahead of Sainsbury's current programme.

Up to 37,000 vehicles travel along the Bristol Road through Selly Oak every day and there are more than 20 bus services on the route. The council is currently negotiating a legal agreement with Sainsbury's over the deal.

Councillor Len Gregory, cabinet member for transportation and street services, said: "The early construction of Selly Oak New Road Phase 1A by Sainsbury's is a key component in the construction traffic management plan for the new Queen Elizabeth Hospital.

"In order to facilitate an early start, it is proposed that the city council advance-fund the road construction using Section 106 contributions from the University Hospital Trust, but recover all costs from Sainsbury's on implementation of planning consent for the Birmingham Battery Site.

"The existing local road network will be unable to sustain construction traffic to the new hospital site, and we are anxious to avoid further disruption to local residents and inconvenience to motorists, so it is vital that that Phase 1A goes ahead as soon as possible."

The road design has been approved by the city council and Sainsbury's is in a position to appoint a contractor.

Plans for the relief road were first tabled 14 years ago.

A Section 106 agreement allows councils to ask developers to fund schemes in the area of their construction as part of their planning consent.