Birmingham Road

Over the summer, the Parish Council undertook a consultation with residents of the parish on whether to close the Birmingham Road to through traffic. The majority of votes were in favour of closing the road, so the Parish Council have formally written to Warwickshire County Council to inform them of the process and outcome of the consultation.

The next step is for Warwickshire County Council (WCC) engineers to look at the engineering, environmental and safety issues of such a closure and decide the exact location of the closure and any highway alterations required in order to implement it. The final decision on if, how and where closure of the Birmingham Road happens would ultimately rest on the findings of WCC as the Highway Authority, who will take a comprehensive overview of all areas of feasibility.

As updates are received about this, all information will be posted on these webpages, so please check back regularly.

August 2021: Update

UPDATE ON THE BIRMINGHAM ROAD – AUGUST 2021

First of all apologies we have taken so long to come back to you all, this is a very complex issue that has been on our agenda for perhaps more than 15 years now.

Parish Councillors met with officers of the County Council on the 4th August to discuss an option for closing the Birmingham Road. This provisional option was favourably received by the Parish Council and could, subject to obtaining the necessary funding, be implemented by the start of 2022.

The closure will be classed as experimental for the 18 month trial period but if successful will see the Birmingham Road remain closed to traffic. Access for buses, cyclists and pedestrians would remain in any permanent closure.

Cllr Redford is working hard to secure some funding and we would hope to be able to report back to you all very soon with further news on this.

The proposal agreed is to close the Birmingham Road at two locations with (most likely) red and white water filled containers. Pedestrians and cyclists will still have a safe route through both closure points for the duration of the experimental period.

The first closure point will be at the crossroads with the B4115, converting this into a T junction and hopefully making it considerably safer for all users. The second closure point will be just to the crossroads side of the village hall car park entrance, however all accesses to property and fields will be maintained.

We are still discussing the arrangements for the local bus service and the school bus but believe we have workable solutions for both.

The suggested scheme has been shared with the emergency services (police, fire and ambulance) all of which were supportive.

HS2 have reserved the right to comment on the experiment during the trial period, which they have a legal right to do under their act of parliament.

Once we have further news we will be in touch again.

 

April 2021: Update

Statement from Warwickshire County Council:

“The County Council is aware of the issues associated with rat-running traffic which uses Birmingham Road through Stoneleigh Village as a short-cut between the B4115 and B4113. In response to a request from Stoneleigh and Ashow Parish Council, the Transport Planning Unit have been exploring options for a potential closure of Birmingham Road to general traffic, whilst maintaining access for buses, pedestrians and cyclists.

Discussions are ongoing with HS2 Ltd and other key partners to identify what measures could be implemented given other considerations in the area. These include HS2 construction movements to/from their Stoneleigh Compound, and the need to maintain access to the Covid-19 mass vaccination centre at Stoneleigh Park.”

December 2020: Update

We were hoping that a representative of Warwickshire County Council would attend the Parish Council meeting in December to discuss a proposal for closing Birmingham Road. We have, however, been informed by WCC that they are not yet in a position to put forward a proposal and will let us know when this is possible.

September 2020: Birmingham Road Consultation Results

The results of the Birmingham Road consultation were announced at the Parish Council meeting on September 10th. Of a total 680 ballot papers sent out, 421 were returned. After independent analysis by the Warwickshire Association of Local Councils, it was confirmed that a majority of people voted to close the road, 275 votes in favour and 146 against. This will now be handed over to Warwickshire County Council to consider the best way to proceed with the closure. Confirmation of the consultation results will be sent to all residents and further information will be posted on this website and will be discussed in Parish Council meetings.