Queensway is the name of a number of roads in central Birmingham, England, but most often refers to the Queensway tunnel, part of the A38.[1][2] Queensway is the suffix of several other roads and circuses, such as Smallbrook Queensway and Colmore Circus Queensway; all of which were once part of the historic A4400 Inner Ring Road, often called collectively the Queensway.
The Inner Ring Road was built as a dual carriageway in the 1960s and 1970s. Junctions on the road were largely grade separated, with pedestrians kept physically separate from vehicular traffic and most junctions allowing vehicles staying on the road to pass over or under those using the junction. Pedestrians used subways to cross the ring road.
Although seen as a revolutionary improvement when the first section opened in 1960, the 'Concrete Collar', as it became known, was viewed by council planners as an impenetrable barrier for the expansion of the city centre. Birmingham had a small city centre compared to other UK cities.[3] After 1988, the city council sought to recreate links between the city centre and the neighbouring areas, enlarging the city centre and improving the pedestrian environment across the city, with an emphasis on shifting vehicular movements out to The Middleway.[4] The Inner Ring Road was effectively dismantled by the 2000s - many roads have been rebuilt and downgraded and now far more resemble city streets.[5] According to the Birmingham Big City Plan published in 2011, the Ring Road has restricted open spaces, growth and economic activity, and made the city centre more crowded and harder to navigate.[6][7]
History
Birmingham's inner ring road was first planned by Herbert Manzoni in 1943 and an Act of Parliament permitting construction was passed in 1946. Due to financial controls, construction of the first part of the ring road, Smallbrook Queensway, did not begin until 1957. Queen Elizabeth II formally opened the completed ring road on 7 April 1971, but mistakenly named the whole route Queensway during her speech instead of just one tunnel; as a result the entire ring road became officially known as Queensway.[8]
In 1978 the West Midlands County Surveyor reported potential safety problems caused by the use of high alumina cement in construction of the St Chad's Circus underpass roof.[9] In 1979 the underpass was closed for two months to allow strengthening work on high alumina cement beams.[10]
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Starting in the 1990s, some of Queensway has been altered in order to reverse the earlier strict separation of road and pedestrian traffic with a view to providing a more attractive environment for pedestrians, deter through traffic, and reducing the severance effects of the Inner Ring Road. For example, the pedestrian subway between Hurst Street and Hill Street was removed in 1993.[11] The Masshouse Circus was demolished in 2002.[12] In early 2008, the St Chads Queensway area near the St. Chad's Cathedral was modified to remove pedestrian underpasses and bring all pedestrian and car traffic back on to the traditional street level.
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These redevelopments were championed by the city council as breaking the 'concrete collar' around the city centre (especially in the Masshouse area), with the aim of making the city more friendly to pedestrian navigation, and improving the aesthetic appearance of the city.[13] Some motorists, however, bemoan the reduction of road capacity[citation needed] and point to the regular congestion on the remodelled sections. Controversially,[14] pedestrian crossings are replacing underpasses.[15] The A4400 still exists as the surface level road where the A38 runs in tunnels.
List of roads of the old ring road
The road previously consisted of the following roads (anticlockwise from A38(M) approach (Aston Expressway):
- St Chads Queensway (now A38)
- Lancaster Circus Queensway
- St Chads Circus Queensway
- Paradise Circus Queensway, below Birmingham Central Library (now A38)
- Great Charles Queensway (now A38)
- Suffolk Street Queensway (now A38)
- Holloway Circus Queensway (now A38)
- Smallbrook Queensway (unclassified)
- St Martin's Queensway (demolished to make way for new Bullring development)
- Moor Street Queensway (now B4100) rebuilt into "Bus mall" renamed Moor Street Ringway
- James Watt Queensway (now B4114)
- Masshouse Circus Queensway, formerly roundabout over James Watt Queensway (demolished).
Underpasses and tunnels
One carriageway of the St Chads underpass of 1,140 feet (350 m) was formally opened by Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Ald. Charles Simpson on 27 May 1968. To aid motorists transition from the darker 500 feet (150 m) tunnel to daylight the underpass walls had graduated shades of colour. The northbound carriageway, though complete was not opened to traffic until November 1969 because road connections had yet to be finalised.[16][17]
In August 1973, Birmingham police said the underpasses and tunnels of the inner ring road were technically de-restricted, but that a 30 miles per hour speed limit applied on surface stretches, however, the Automobile Association disagreed saying the speed limit applied on all; a spokesman for the Department of Environment said only the courts could decide. The Birmingham Post called the situation "ghastly" and the fact it had continued for two years "defies comprehension".[18] Two months later a 40 miles per hour limit was agreed by the city council and Department of Environment for the A38 section from St Chads underpass and the Queensway tunnel through to Bristol Street.[19] Following a number of fatal accidents in the St Chads tunnel, the northbound carriageway of which has a sharp right hand bend, its speed limit was reduced to 30 miles per hour in February 1976.[20]