oldMohawk
gone but not forgotten
We often lament about nice distinguished old buildings being replaced with concrete and glass monstrosities, but recently looking at photos of the building of the 'Erdington By-Pass' (Sutton New Road) started in 1938, made me think about the road improvements I saw in my younger days and how they affected my travel around Brum.
I never really noticed the Erdington by-pass, it was there before I had my own transport, and I did not often travel that way by bus. Was it the first 'by-pass' road scheme in Birmingham?
The road improvement work that affected me most was along Birchfield Rd starting with the Perry Barr Underpass. I drove my motor scooter through it on the first night it opened in 1962. It was built because traffic jams in Perry Barr in the 1950s were horrendous with merging and crossing traffic at the Walsall Rd and Aldridge Rd junction and also at the Birchfield Rd/Aston Lane crossing with traffic lights. Before 1953 the No 6 tram terminus was in the middle of the road.
Further towards the city was the Trinity Road junction with some traffic wanting to turn right into Heathfield Road and a flyover here was not completed until 1971
After Trinity Rd, Six Ways lay ahead where great care was needed and it could be a major bottleneck during rush hours. I don't remember any traffic lights so it was everyone for themselves with several bus routes passing through and up until 1953 the No 5 tram route crossing the No 6 route. I remember as a youngster riding my bike across there looking for traffic from all directions while keeping my front wheel out of tramlines.
By the time I bought my first car in 1964, I could whizz almost non stop towards town, although I had to wait until the Trinity Rd flyover was completed in 1971. I thought it was all brilliant not realising that the old shopping areas in Perry Barr and Newtown Row had been killed off. I have some posts on the BHF wistfully recalling the old shops but I suppose the changes were inevitable because the old roads barely coped with traffic in the 1950s and 1960s.
I don't seem to have noticed the building of other major roadworks although I must have been caught in the traffic jams they caused and I certainly used the finished projects!
Lots of pics of the traffic jams and road works in the Birchfield Rd area can be found on the forum.
I never really noticed the Erdington by-pass, it was there before I had my own transport, and I did not often travel that way by bus. Was it the first 'by-pass' road scheme in Birmingham?
The road improvement work that affected me most was along Birchfield Rd starting with the Perry Barr Underpass. I drove my motor scooter through it on the first night it opened in 1962. It was built because traffic jams in Perry Barr in the 1950s were horrendous with merging and crossing traffic at the Walsall Rd and Aldridge Rd junction and also at the Birchfield Rd/Aston Lane crossing with traffic lights. Before 1953 the No 6 tram terminus was in the middle of the road.
Further towards the city was the Trinity Road junction with some traffic wanting to turn right into Heathfield Road and a flyover here was not completed until 1971
After Trinity Rd, Six Ways lay ahead where great care was needed and it could be a major bottleneck during rush hours. I don't remember any traffic lights so it was everyone for themselves with several bus routes passing through and up until 1953 the No 5 tram route crossing the No 6 route. I remember as a youngster riding my bike across there looking for traffic from all directions while keeping my front wheel out of tramlines.
By the time I bought my first car in 1964, I could whizz almost non stop towards town, although I had to wait until the Trinity Rd flyover was completed in 1971. I thought it was all brilliant not realising that the old shopping areas in Perry Barr and Newtown Row had been killed off. I have some posts on the BHF wistfully recalling the old shops but I suppose the changes were inevitable because the old roads barely coped with traffic in the 1950s and 1960s.
I don't seem to have noticed the building of other major roadworks although I must have been caught in the traffic jams they caused and I certainly used the finished projects!
Lots of pics of the traffic jams and road works in the Birchfield Rd area can be found on the forum.