Car Free Birmingham

Grove Lane

Grove Lane is a street with lots happening - homes, schools, shops, cafes, faith centres - which connects the busy Soho Road with the beautiful Handsworth Park.

People travel here in all sorts of ways - on foot, wheelchair, bikes, buggies and on the bus. However the road and pavements are dominated by private cars, which makes it dangerous and polluted. When cars take up pavement space they create even more obstacles for others. We think it’s time to take space away from cars and give it back to people and nature.

How we produced our vision for Grove Lane

In Autumn 2022 we interviewed seven campaigners, politicians and academics to find out their thoughts on how Birmingham could look, feel and operate equitably in a future free from car dependency. The findings are in this Fare City report.

We then ran two workshops with local people in Handsworth to explore how we are dependent on cars, and design a vision of how Grove Lane could look in a future free of car culture.

Our architectural visualiser used our participants’ ideas, sketches, written notes, and inspiration they found online to produce  an image showing how this section of the street might look if we removed cars and made it a space for people to enjoy.

Our Vision for Grove Lane

Welcome to Grove Lane Green Zone, a car free lane leading to the famous Handsworth Park. It’s an open street where you can walk, wheel or cycle freely and safely to school or the shops and services.

As you enter from the Soho Road, you arrive at a little oasis on Grove Lane. It feels calm and quiet, is lush with greenery, fruit bushes, and shaded areas.

 You enjoy the beauty of mango, jackfruit and blue-purple-leaved Jacaranda trees, plants that represent the diversity of cultures from South Asia and the Caribbean. They help clean the air, cool the street in the summer, give shelter in the rain, and absorb pollution, as well as boosting our community’s mental health and wellbeing.

Cyclists must give priority to walkers and wheelers here. The ground is flat and even, making it easier to move around in a wheelchair, or push a buggy or pull a shopping trolley. The marked lane for cycles and e-scooters is perfect for taking a cargo bike ride, being mindful of other people moving around the space. There are often parents taking young children up to school on cargo bikes, and local businesses making deliveries on them too. There’s also a dock for people to hire e-scooters for short local trips.

On the occasion that people who live or work on the street need access to a vehicle, or emergency vehicles need access, there is a car park behind the shops and road access at each end of this section and on Union Row. The popular bus service now goes along Stafford Road and Union Row, stopping round the corner outside the Shri Guru Ravidass Bhawan Ravidassia Temple. This little area is now a place to spend time in, not just somewhere to pass through or park over.

People have space here to relax, socialise, play outside, and build community. It’s much easier to walk, wheel, or cycle to school now that Grove Lane is calmer and safer. There’s also more space for children to play and chat at the end of the school day. There’s even a chess table so people can exercise their minds as well.

The increase in passing trade has given a welcome boost to local cafes and shops on Grove Lane. Local artists, makers and musicians now organise a monthly Sunday street market here, bringing a happy buzz of people browsing, buying, swapping and chatting.

Have a seat where the air is clean, take time to walk slowly, and enjoy our nature zone.

Pull the slider from side to side to see Grove Lane before and after our vision.

Hockley flyover and the island below it is an outmoded inner city race track for motor vehicles, designed when it was deemed acceptable to take all available space for roaring traffic and push people underground. The traffic island acts as an extension of the ring road, allowing vehicles to whizz round, free from pedestrian crossing points, traffic lights or speed restrictions. There are two lanes for motor traffic, but no bus or cycle lanes. Pedestrians are expected to cross via underground subways, but they can feel unsafe so many people would rather take the risk and cross the road at ground level instead.

We think the flyover should be pulled down - just like the Perry Barr flyover was in 2022 - and Hockley Circus transformed into a space for people to gather, play, eat and relax. Wouldn’t it be brilliant for this space to be returned to local people, traders, school children and nature?

Our vision for Hockley Circus

How you can hep tackle car culture in Birmingham

We think our visions will fire the imagination and get people thinking about ways to make our streets climate friendly and equitable.

Let your councillor know this is important to you and ask them to implement our 10 ways to tackle car dominance and climate change.

What you can do to support a car-free future

• Sign up to our mailing list for further actions and to stay up to date with the campaign. 

• Read about our traffic filter survey and show your local council that the public supports them.

• Find out all about parklets and ask your local council to support parklets.

• Use our map to send a letter to your councillor calling for school streets to reduce children’s exposure to toxic air pollution.

• Take on our 30-day car free challenge!

Want to see our visions for Bristol, Leeds and London?

As well as Birmingham, we held workshops in our other Car Free Cities to re-imagine local streets and iconic places in a future free from car dependency. You can check out these cities’ Car Free Visions here: Bristol, Leeds and London.