People travelling in and around the Park Street area of Birmingham City Centre area are being advised to allow more time for journeys, due to the permanent closure of part of the road from Sunday 5 July.
Laing O’Rourke and J Murphy (LM) are working on behalf of HS2 to prepare the area for the construction of Birmingham’s new Curzon Street station.
Partial closure of Park Street means that local traffic and those travelling through the area may be affected, and people are being urged to plan ahead.
Key travel advice from Sunday 5 July:
In April this year, three planning applications for the new station and the surrounding landscaping were approved by the Council’s planning committee, with the Council’s report concluding the station design “is truly world class”. The enabling works for the station have already created hundreds of jobs in Birmingham, and this will increase as the design and construction of the station progresses.
Anne Shaw, Director of Network Resilience at Transport for West Midlands:
“We want to make it as easy as possible for people to continue to travel in and around Park Street whilst works are undertaken to prepare for the construction of Curzon Street station and the HS2 railway. We are committed to keeping people moving and it will be important to plan ahead and leave more time for your journey.”
Simon Russell, LM’s Project Director, said:
“The new Curzon Street station will have a hugely beneficial impact on Birmingham and the West Midlands. Partial closure of Park St from 5 July will allow us to make the necessary diversions to street utilities, and prepare the area for full construction to start.
“We’ve made significant progress on the site of the new station, with a massive archaeology programme unearthing a rich tapestry of history from the area, including the world’s oldest roundhouse. The story’s next chapter will be to ensure that the new station can be built safely and without disrupting existing street services – that work starts now.”
The closure will be in place from the junctions of Masshouse Lane and Bordesley Street. In the coming months, HS2 will be starting a wider programme of works in the city centre, on roads including Priory Queensway, Fazeley Street and Moor Street Queensway. These works will be carried out in phases to keep disruption to a minimum.
Later this year a bus gate will be introduced by Birmingham City Council on a section of Moor Street Queensway between Moor Street Station and the junction with Carrs Lane. This will restrict northbound and southbound access for private vehicles except for buses, cyclists and hackney taxis. Access for loading and unloading to Moor Street Station and other premises in the area will still be possible, although via different routes in some cases.
For more information about the closure of Park Street and for up-to-date travel advice, please visit www.wmnetwork.co.uk/parkstreet
