Sprint: Bus priority corridors for reliable, greener and better connected journeysNewsletter - December 2020 Welcome to the December issue of our Sprint newsletter. With the Sprint project moving steadily towards the start of construction along the A45, you will begin to see an increase in activity in the new year, particularly around Bordesley Circus in Birmingham where work is due to begin in January. Signs are about to go up, the main compounds are being mobilised, and notifications giving details of forthcoming work are ready to go out. Morgan Sindall Infrastructure is the main contractor for the A45 with a contractor announcement for the A34 expected early in the new year. Our Sprint promotional video is now available to view. In sharing our vision for Sprint and featuring local people as much as possible, it shows many of the long-term benefits that will come from the Sprint project. Further information relating to the scheme and the ongoing construction can be found on our new-look Sprint website now revamped and expanded to provide more news and updates for when the main construction work begins. If you have any specific enquiries, please contact our customer services team using the details at the end of this newsletter. At the end of what has been a very challenging year for everyone, we’d like to wish you all a very happy and safe Christmas. What is a bus priority corridor? Sprint is a bus priority corridor that will link Walsall with the centre of Birmingham, Solihull and Birmingham Airport, joining the A34 with the A45 to create one continuous route. The Sprint corridor will be a mix of dedicated bus lanes together with the shared use of the highway with other traffic at certain points, but with buses having signal controlled priority at road junctions and traffic lights. Sprint vehicles will allow for the swifter movement of passengers on and off the bus at larger, state-of-the-art shelters, with improved access for disabled passengers. It means quicker journey times along the corridor, but without buses going any faster. And as all buses will benefit from using the corridor it means an improved travelling experience for all bus passengers, providing more reliable, regular and predictable journey times, connecting our region and protecting our environment. A milestone project - the first cross city corridor of its kind anywhere in the country - Sprint is being delivered by Transport for West Midlands. By integrating with other schemes such as the Midland Metro and HS2, Sprint forms part of the region-wide ambition to improve the public transport experience. Construction under Covid The main construction works are scheduled to begin along the A45 in January, starting at Bordesley Circus. Work along the first part of the A34 from Birmingham City Centre will follow in the new year, once a main contractor has been announced to carry out the work. Although the government has allowed all construction to continue during the pandemic, working restrictions may change at short notice. The Sprint team and our contractors will always comply with the latest government advice, putting the safety of the public and our workforce first. There is still uncertainty around when Covid restrictions will be lifted, but we will resume public face-to-face engagement events and meetings as soon as circumstances allow. In the meantime please use the contact details at the foot of this newsletter for any enquiries. Once the main work is underway, residents and local businesses will receive notification of specific activity in their area, outlining the works and how this may impact them. Notifications will be sent out two weeks in advance of construction work. Please use the contact details on the notification if you require further information. Notice of all forthcoming works will also be made available on the Sprint website. Shelters The replacement and repositioning of shelters along the corridor is also set to begin in the new year. Letters will be sent to residents living near to existing stops to explain the process in more detail. The new Sprint shelters (for use by all bus services) will be larger than the shelters they are replacing, providing enhanced waiting facilities including the latest real time information displays and CCTV that will help to improve safety at stops and the surrounding areas. Over 95 shelters are set to be replaced and with some utility works required to accommodate the larger shelter, it may mean a gap between removal of the old shelter and the new shelter being installed. We’ll give more information of timings once installation work begins. Tree Planting We have been receiving suggestions from local councillors and from among members of the community, about possible locations and species of new trees for planting. We will be guided by our local authority partners to help ensure we create useable green spaces that residents can utilise. Tree planting is expected to begin in the new year, and we will update where planting will begin shortly. We have worked closely with a specialist contractor to undertake a dedicated tree analysis, identifying the location, type and number of trees that may be impacted by the project. We are committed to only removing trees where absolutely necessary in order to deliver the Sprint corridor. As part of our commitment to the environment, we’ll be planting over 1000 new trees along the Sprint corridor to help improve the environment and encourage biodiversity in local areas. Planned activity next month · Completion of vegetation clearance from the central reservation along the Small Heath bypass. · Trial holes along the A34. · Mobilising the site compound at Bordesley Green and smaller satellite compounds along the route. · Identifying the best locations for our tree planting. You’re up to dateThanks for taking the time to stay updated on the Sprint project. We will issue newsletters as and when we have new information to share. If you have any questions please feel free to get in touch with us using the contact details below. Tel: 0345 303 6760, option 2, then option 3. Please contact us if you require material provided in an alternative language. You can request hard copies or a different format,of this newsletter by using the contact details shown above. If you received this newsletter, you will have either expressed an interest in being kept-up-to-date on Sprint, or we will have identified you as benefiting from it. If you no longer wish to receive Sprint related correspondence such as this, or you would like to receive information on our other two Sprint schemes, please get in touch. |