Lower Bull Street in Birmingham city centre is set to reopen on Sunday 23 July following months of closure due to Metro construction.
The street has been closed since May 2021 as part of the £230 million extension of the Metro line to Digbeth. The new section of track will allow trams to travel in six different directions, including to Birmingham New Street station, the city centre, and the National Exhibition Centre.
The project has followed the destruction of Kings Parade and the reopening of Lower Bull Street is a major milestone in the Metro extension project. It will mean attention can shift to finishing the final civil construction projects including paving installation. Some fencing will remain in place, but this is due to be removed as soon as possible.
Maria Ion, project director, said: “We are all extremely delighted to have reached this key stage of construction along Lower Bull Street. I would like to thank all the businesses, residents and visitors for their patience while the construction was taking place.
“Although we will still be carrying out some activity in Lower Bull Street and Dale End, our teams will continue to work closely with partners to minimise disruption wherever possible.”
The Birmingham Eastside tram extension is part of the Eastside regeneration project and broader extension of the tram network in the West Midlands with the final testing underway nearby in Wolverhampton on the City centre metro extension.
Work is also continuing on the 11km extension from Wednesbury to Dudley which is expected to have the first phase opened in 2024.
Councillor Liz Clements, Birmingham City Council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “I am pleased that this extension has made such headway in recent weeks. The metro is a key part of Birmingham’s sustainable transport offer as we encourage people to leave their cars at home so we can have safer streets, cleaner air and achieve our net zero emissions goal.”
Photo Credit: Istock
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