Footway Widening on A456

The A456 in Halesowen has been identified by Dudley Council as an important route where walking and cycling facilities need to be improved and upgraded.

Walking and cycling provides huge benefits to the physical and mental health of our residents, as well as to air quality and the environment through encouraging sustainable modes of travel

Local and regional aspirations for increased cycling and walking will only be met if suitable cycle paths and footpaths are provided, and this project forms a key part of that. Residents have told us that the main reason they don't cycle more is because they don't feel safe enough, and the only way to correct this is off-road cycle tracks alongside our major roads.

Funding from the Department for Transport’s Active Travel Fund now gives us an opportunity to deliver the first section of the A456 route.

The funding will be used to provide a widened footway, to facilitate shared walking and cycling, along both sides of the road.

A key element of the scheme will be a new signalised crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, roughly betweenthe access road to Halesowen Athletics and Cycling Club and the residential area to the north of the A456.

The widened footways will run from this new crossing, to the junction with Manor Lane. At the junction with Manor Lane, the current traffic signals will be upgraded, and will have additional pedestrian facilities incorporated within them, so that it is clear to pedestrians at which point they are to cross the roads. These crossing points will allow safer access to and from bus stops on the westbound carriageway, and the network of public footpaths that link to the countryside to the south

Along the route, space currently used by bus stops within laybys will be reallocated to the footway, and following completion of the footway, buses will be required to stop on the road, rather than pulling into the layby to pick-up and drop-off passengers. **UPDATE APRIL 2021 – Following initial consultation the bus layby arrangement in the Cloister Drive deceleration lane and the deceleration lane itself will remain in place**

The measures will also be supported by a reduction in the speed limit along this stretch from 50mph to 40mph, to further improve safety along the route.

There are aspirations for this section of road to be tied into a wider stretch of cycle route heading towards the M5 roundabout and linking into the Woodgate Valley area of Birmingham, and this project forms an important first phase of that wider strategic route.

To view the a more detailed plan, click on the attachments below and zoom in. Due to the length of the route, the detailed plan has been split into two parts.