Introduction

Places for People is about reducing the amount of traffic in residential neighbourhoods so that it is nicer to be outside and safer for people to walk and cycle, children to play, neighbours to chat.

In many parts of Birmingham, residents find that streets outside their homes are busy with traffic, particularly when people are cutting through to avoid congestion on main roads. When traffic is reduced the neighbourhood becomes quieter, streets are safer, and the air is cleaner.

During the COVID-19 lockdown we had a chance to experience what it can feel like when our roads are much quieter.

Through the Emergency Birmingham Transport Plan and money from the Government’s Emergency Active Travel Fund, we have an opportunity to introduce schemes to keep these benefits and create Low Traffic Neighbourhoods across Birmingham.

In phase one, we delivered two low-traffic neighbourhood pilots in Kings Heath and Lozells, alongside some early demonstration projects to address traffic problems on identified streets in Bournville, Castle Vale and Moseley.

These were introduced as temporary trial measures and we now have funding to make improvements, expand and make the schemes permanent.