Selly Oak New Road highway improvement scheme

Selly Oak New Road (SONR) Phase 1B scheme is the final section of the overall SONR project, which consists of highways improvements to the Selly Oak Triangle, made up of Bristol Road, Harborne Lane and Chapel Lane. The scheme will deliver improved access to key development sites, including the Life Sciences Campus on the Birmingham Battery site, and support the regeneration of Bournbrook / Selly Oak centre.

Construction began in April 2019 and is expected to be substantially complete by the end of November 2020.

Key improvements on completion of the works at the Selly Oak Triangle include:

• Making Harborne Lane (between the Bristol Road junction and the junction with Chapel Lane) into a two-way dual carriageway.
• Re-configuring Chapel Lane to make it two-way and introducing a mini-roundabout at the Battery Retail Park entrance.
• Widening the footway along the north side of Bristol Road between the Harborne Lane and Chapel Lane junctions.
• Upgrade of bus, pedestrian and cyclist facilities.
• When Harborne Lane and Chapel Lane become two-way, it will no longer be possible to turn right into Harborne Lane from Bristol Road, or left from Harborne Lane onto Bristol Road (except buses).

Latest news

From Sunday 25 October, we will start to change the general traffic movements around the triangle. Harborne Lane will operate as dual carriageway with traffic flows in both directions from the evening of Sunday 25 October. Chapel Lane will become two-way from mid-November. 

If you are driving in the area on and after Sunday 25 October please expect the layout to be different and follow signs carefully. Once the construction works are substantially completed by the end of November 2020, the triangle site will operate with:

• New traffic signals with upgraded pedestrian/cyclist crossings at the junctions;
• New segregated cycle tracks along Harborne Lane/Bristol Road.

We are aware that the construction works may have affected your daily journeys using public transport as buses have been stopping at the temporary bus stops around the triangle site. Once the construction works are substantially completed:

• New bus stops on Bristol Road outside of the old Sainsbury’s building will open;
• New bus stops in both directions on Chapel Lane will open.

More information about bus services can be found at www.networkwestmidlands.com.

We are also planning to start carriageway resurfacing works from Monday 26 October. These works will be undertaken at night between the hours of 8pm and 6am for approximately three weeks. In the first week works will take place from Monday to Friday. Works in the following two weeks will be undertaken from Sunday to Thursday.

To enable the resurfacing works to take place safely it will be necessary to close sections of the roads. In order to minimise the impact on road users, the resurfacing works will be carried out in three phases listed below:

• Phase 1: Harborne Lane/Bristol Road/Oak Tree Lane junction;
• Phase 2: Chapel Lane/Bristol Road/Elliot Road junction;
• Phase 3: Chapel Lane and Harborne Lane up to its junction with Gibbins Road.

Road users will be guided by temporary traffic diversion signs, while the resurfacing works are being carried out at night. Sections of the roads closed at night will reopen during the day.