For those of you who visit the City of Birmingham in the United Kingdom, you’ll either come in one of two ways – either by train or by car.
Those of you who are coming in by car will normally come in via the A38(M) Aston Expressway, and then through the tunnels that dive under the city centre. These tunnels are 40 years old, and are in need of repair, refurbishment
Well, there is bad news for those of us who commute or for those visiting the city the first time as these tunnels are shutting from the 19th July 2013 to the 2nd September 2013… and it looks something like this:
Image – AMEY/Birmingham City Council via http://www.brumtunnels.co.uk/
There will also be addition closures in the night before and after the works too.
So, what can you do?
- Plan alternative routes – There are a list of alternative routes posted at http://www.amey.co.uk/BrumTunnels/suggestedRoutes.aspx which cover the majority of the main destinations. Of course, you could just go round the ringway until you get to where you need to.
- Stagger your peak journeys – Sounds simple doesn’t it? But consider arriving early or leaving late to avoid some of the rush hour traffic
- Switch to Public Transport where possible – Consider a modal shift and using park and ride facilities. Network West Midlands has a list of alternatives http://www.networkwestmidlands.com/tunnels/Tunnels.aspx . You might want to look at http://www.networkwestmidlands.com/train93/NetworkMap.aspx for rail connections which have park and ride facilities
- In terms of local public transport, some buses will be diverted during these works. These include routes 7, 33, 46, 51, 82, 83, 87, 89, 126, 907, 934, 935, 935A, 936, 952, 997 & X51. National Express West Midlands has the details on the diversions (Which means my buses are on the fritz… again). There is also a Tunnel Busting fare on sale during the roadworks.
Roadworks are never good when they happen as it causes disruption, but with a bit of planning, you can try and mitigate them.
All I know is, that over the summer – my trips into the city centre will be fewer than normal….