Work continues on the Selly Oak New Road

birmingham.gov have provided another update on the progress of the Selly Oak New Road.

The following works are due to take place from Saturday 3 May 2008

• Preparation for surfacing will be taking place to footpaths.
• Placing service and signal ducts in footpaths of new road
• Drainage works from attenuation tank units to the Bourn Brook.
• Kerbs and trimming sub-base to tie-in with Hospital Link Road Section 1.
• Exposing existing ducts on West side of existing bridge and installing support.
• Constructing ramp for diverting Northbound traffic out of new island.
• Commence demolition of West side of existing bridge

I'm not entirely sure what most of this means - nor does it give any real indication of whether the work is progressing on schedule - but still, it's good to know that those attenuation tank units are being looked at!

There appears to be quite a lack of information, blog posts or even images on the web relating to the development of the Selly Oak New Road so if anyone has anything interesting to add, or fancies going out and taking some photos, then please do, and let me know.

(Here are all the previous posts on this subject.)

I'm moving

This week, assuming all goes to plan, I will be moving out of Birmingham B29.

It's not really a deliberate or planned move.

Initially I thought I was going to be moving within the B29 area... but then I also thought I would be moving with my girlfriend, rather than us going our separate ways.

How wrong you can be.

So, the upshot is that I will be moving to B13, within a short walk from the centre of Moseley.

It will certainly make attending the fantastic Moseley Folk Festival even easier than usual!

However, the problem is what to do with this site.

I could continue representing B29 on the web, after all I have spent enough years living in the year to understand what is going on and present a useful view.

On the other hand, shouldn't Birmingham B29 be represented by someone who actually lives and breathes the air every day, who walks the streets and receives the enticing Selly Oak and Northfield council leaflets through the door?

What do you think?

Anyone interested in taking on B29? Anyone think that it doesn't really matter? I really would be interested in any thoughts you have.

Selly Oak New Road

Another brief update from birmingham.gov on the progress of the Selly Oak New Road:

The following works are due to take place from Monday 4 February 2008:

• Importing and rolling fill material for new road and roundabout.
• Work on north wing wall for the first section of new canal bridge, Harborne Lane.
• Waterproofing, back of wall drainage and backfilling to back of walls.
• Placing gully connections.
• Site clearance and excavation to east pavement will be taking place.
• Work on retaining wall next to B&Q.
• Excavating lagoon and stockpiling arisings.
• Tree clearance to the environmental works off Arosa Drive
  

Both carriageways are restricted to one lane working, which may cause disruption for motorists and pedestrians.

If you need further information please contact either George Underhill on 07977 437305 or Dave Greenaway on 07766 923287.

Here are all the previous posts on this subject.

Selly Oak New Road (update)

Another brief update from birmingham.gov on the progress of the Selly Oak New Road:

The following works are due to take place from Saturday 15 December:

• Importing and rolling fill material for new road and roundabout
• Steelfix and shutter to walls for the first section of new canal bridge, Harborne Lane
• Placing gulleys

Please note that the location of these works means traffic flows will not be affected

Here are all the previous posts on this subject.

Work on Selly Oak New Road begins

Following my post last month on the proposals for the Selly Oak New Road it would appear that, as promised, work has now begun.

This from birmingham.gov, updated on 25th October:

Phase 1A of the scheme includes for the widening of Harborne Lane, reconstruction of Harborne Lane bridge, the construction of a new roundabout at Harborne Lane / Selly Oak New Road, construction of new carriageway across the old Birmingham Battery site and flood compensation works.

The following works are due to take place from Monday 29 October:

• Importing and rolling fill
• Drainage works
• Trial holes in footpaths

Please note that the location of these works means traffic flows will not be affected

If you need further information please contact either George Underhill on 07977 437305 or Dave Greenaway on 07766 923287.

Selly Oak New Road Proposals

According to birmingham.gov.uk, construction on the Selly Oak New Road is about to start. The 'last updated' tag on the page says 2nd October 2007 although this doesn't necessarily mean that the information is completely new.

According to the website

Works are programmed to start in October and last for 10 months until August 2008.

Has anyone else got any further information on this?
Anyone able to shed any light on when construction is actually due to start?
Please comment on this post if you have any additional info...

There's a useful map of the proposed new road on the website, although I've provided a slightly doctored version below to make it, I think, a bit clearer.

The orange line is the current Bristol Rd through Selly Oak, the red line is the proposed new road. The heavily student-populated area including Dawlish Rd, Tiverton Rd et al is the large area shaded green in the centre.


(click on map for large version)

In essence the reason behind the plan is very similar to the Northfield Relief Road which was completed in June this year and allows traffic to progress along the A38 route between the city centre and Rubery/M5 without going through the busy shopping centre of Northfield.

The idea of diverting traffic away from the pedestrian-busy shops/pubs of Selly Oak and allowing heavy traffic a quicker and easier access in/out of the city has been around for some time with many of the details agreed in 2004.

The recent demise of the Knife and Fork (pictured left) was, for many, the first big step in the plan.

The plans for the new road are part of a wider initiative labelled the Selly Oak Local Action Plan which includes a number of other major developments in the area.

Liberty's heli of a curry (from The Sun newspaper)

Sticking on the big-news-from-B29-theme, I was reminded on Friday of this excellent story from 2006.

As reported in The Sun newspaper, pop group Liberty X splashed out £4,500 by hiring a helicopter to deliver food from the Sundarbon restaurant on Bristol Road in Selly Oak, to London.

Apparently Westlife are big fans of the Sundarbon food as well.

Tornado hits Selly Oak (a long time ago)

Whilst searching for any big news story directly related to the B29 area I came across the enticing headline "Tornado hits Selly Oak".

One look at the story, from the BBC website, and it didn't take long to realise that this was quite an old story, from July 1999 in fact.



However, it still made me chuckle for a number of reasons - not least that the story is credited as "From the newsroom of the BBC World Service".

Fair play though, it appears that the story was published by a very alert journalist at a quarter past five in the morning.