WORK on new bus lanes and junction upgrades on a busy Birmingham commuter route is to start next week as part of an ongoing £30 million project to improve bus services across Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley.

The new measures on Alcester Road will give buses priority to improve journey times and reliability as they bypass traffic jams through the Balsall Heath area.

Work on the road, between Highgate Middleway and Park Road, is due to start on Monday February 27 and expected to be completed by the end of June.

This will be followed by works in Birmingham city centre, running from June, to provide bus priority measures in Margaret Street, Newhall Street, Summer Hill and Snow Hill Queensway.

These are due to be completed by October.

The £30m cross-city bus project, led by Transport for West Midlands (TfWM) in partnership with Birmingham City Council, will see priority measures, including bus lanes, junction upgrades and bus gates installed on a long route between Druids Heath and Dudley.

TfWM, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), is working in partnership with Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley councils on the project.

The Department for Transport has provided £24 million of the funding.

The works will allow buses, including the 50, 82 and 87 routes in Birmingham, Sandwell and Dudley following the A435 and A457 to cut through the traffic congestion and improve reliability.

The aim is to cut traffic congestion by offering more reliable bus services as well improve air quality and help towards the region’s #WM2041 net zero target.

The project is part of a major plan to connect more bus services across the region known as the cross-city bus network which, once completed, will see several bus services travel across Birmingham city centre rather than terminating there.

Andy Street, Mayor of the West Midlands and WMCA chairman, said: “These works are part of our ongoing investment into improving bus services here in the West Midlands.

“We’ve already introduced a fare freeze to help with cost-of-living pressures, are working to simplify fares and are assisting operators with their efforts to renew their bus fleets including with zero-emission electric and hydrogen powered vehicles.

“Now, on Alcester Road in partnership with Birmingham City Council, we’re introducing new bus lanes and priority junctions to improve service reliability and journey times.

“This is just one recent example of our plans to develop many more priority bus routes in the months and years ahead as part of our unprecedented £1.3 billion investment in our transport network.”