Saturday, October 03, 2020

Josh's Flyover campaign

Local campaigner Josh Bunting is working with Jon and Morriam on a new campaign to get the roadworks at Perry Barr stopped - to spare our area from gridlock this winter.

You can find the petition here:

 https://www.change.org/p/birmingham-city-council-halt-perry-barr-flyover-demolition



This is what the petition says:

The new development in Perry Barr is not now being used for the Commonwealth Games. In addition everyone is desperate to get back to work after the pandemic.

These are two big reasons for not going ahead with demolition of the Perry Barr Flyover this winter. Lane restrictions on the A34 and traffic lights at Birchfield Island are already caused gridlock, even before flyover demolition is attempted.

We call for work to be suspended on the Perry Barr Regeneration Project while an independent review is conducted of its costs, purpose and benefits. There is no urgency now that the project is not needed for the Commonwealth Games. Indeed the council should not risk having unfinished road schemes in 2022.

For the last two years the local community has been asking how traffic will move during demolition of the flyover - and even now the answer is just to find other routes. Perry Barr is a crucial bottleneck on the way into Birmingham and asking thousands of drivers to find other routes will simply gridlock the  inadequate local road network.

The review should examine the evidence of the impact of the project on crucial bus routes, such as the 997, and ask why better ways of delivering improvements have not been found.