The travelling public are being urged to plan ahead as a temporary closure of Five Ways roundabout for one-day is set to be in place this coming Sunday (24 October).

The closure is taking place so that a brand-new electrical substation unit can be lowered in place at Five Ways by crane as part of the work that Midland Metro Alliance is completing for the second phase of the Birmingham Westside Metro extension to Edgbaston.

The temporary closure will be in place from midnight on Sunday 24 October, with Five Ways island fully open to traffic before the end of the same day. Works have been scheduled on a Sunday in an attempt to minimise disruption to the travelling public.

There will be a significant impact on bus services that travel through this area during the closure, with diversions adding up to 15 minutes to journeys, and some stops close to the roundabout may not be in use. Those travelling in private vehicles should follow the clearly marked diversion routes in place or consider walking and cycling for shorter journeys as the pedestrian underpass at Five Ways remains open as usual.

Paul Brown, Construction Director at Midland Metro Alliance, said: “We’re working hard with our partners to ensure those living, working and travelling through Birmingham on Sunday are aware of these temporary but essential works and feel able to plan their journeys around it.”

Transport for West Midlands (TfWM), Birmingham City Council and the Midland Metro Alliance have teamed up to provide the following travel advice:

• Plan ahead: Check your journey now
• Leave more time for your journeys especially if you travel along Hagley Road, you’ll need more time for your journey to take account of the closure at Five Ways underpass
• Use public transport wherever possible
• Consider car sharing to reduce congestion on key roads in and out of the city centre
• Use real-time information, such as live updates provided on social media by West Midlands Roads, to keep moving

TfWM is committed to ensuring that the region is able to keep moving through construction activity taking place across the West Midlands and has invested considerably in real-time information systems to help with this, including the state-of-the art Regional Transport Coordination Centre (RTCC) which feeds accurate and swiftly changing travel information straight to those using the transport network via West Midlands Roads online channels. It now has more than 35,000 followers across Facebook and Twitter following its launch in December 2019.

Mark Corbin, Director for Network Resilience for TfWM, said: “The social media accounts for West Midlands Roads have quickly established themselves as a trusted source of travel advice for road users. With the necessary need for this Metro activity on Sunday, we know that West Midlands Roads will also be valuable in helping to manage disruption as this key investment programme continues to be delivered.”

The second phase of the Birmingham Westside Metro project to Edgbaston Village follows the first part of the route from Grand Central to Centenary Square which opened for passenger service in December 2019. Once this last phase of the route is completed, trams will operate between Grand Central and Hagley Road in Edgbaston, improving transport links in the heart of Birmingham, making journeys faster and more accessible, in turn helping businesses and supporting more jobs.