'Changes to Catshill Junction will make things worse', claims resident - The Bromsgrove Standard

'Changes to Catshill Junction will make things worse', claims resident

Bromsgrove Editorial 17th May, 2019   0

A CATSHILL man has hit out at proposed changes to one of the main roads in the village which he claims will cause problems.

Gareth Holden said a new designated area on Birmingham Road so vehicles could turn right into Barley Mow Lane and the option for more vehicles to turn right in the other direction would actually create an issue, rather than solve one that was not there.

Mr Holden, who lives in Birmingham Road, told The Standard: “I asked the county council why it was doing this and was told it was part of improvements but this wouldn’t improve anything – it would actually make it worse.”

He said there were already traffic calming measures in place in the area and the move would cause more traffic to use Barley Mow Lane which did not make any sense.




He also criticised a decision to move a pedestrian crossing to outside his property.

“They haven’t consulted anyone about this and speaking to them I think they know they have made a mistake but just won’t admit it.”


Mr Holden said other people in the area agreed with him and he had also taken the issue up with Coun Shirley Webb.

Coun Webb said she had been told the junction was being ‘future-proofed’ for when there was more development in the area.

But she added: “The county council should have contacted the residents before any decision was made because they are the ones any changes will impact on.

“There was no consultation about it and there should have been.”

A Worcestershire County Council spokesperson said: “The improvements at Barley Mow Lane are part of a wider programme of works to improve the A38 corridor through Bromsgrove and were identified in the Local Transport Plan and widely consulted on at the time of publishing.

“Traffic modelling forecasts suggest southbound traffic being held up by traffic waiting to turn right into Barley Mow Lane will become a significant issue in the future as traffic volumes continue to grow.”

He added residents were updated on the scheme via a letter at the start of April and with a follow-up a couple of weeks later.

He said the proposals were also advertised in the local media, all residents’ queries had been responded to directly .

He said full details of the scheme, supported by the funding bodies of Highways England, Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership and Greater Birmingham Enterprise Partnership following a rigorous review process, were on the website.

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