West Midlands Mayor Andy Street says designs for a Sprint rapid bus route in Walsall will now avoid the need to cut down trees on the A34 Birmingham Road.
Under fresh proposals, a planned bus lane has been reduced in length to retain the at risk trees on The Green next to the junction with Springvale Avenue.
Mr Street, who leads the West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA), said: “The whole idea of the Sprint bus route is to make our region not only better connected but greener too.
“The evidence already shows that passengers are getting more reliable services and quicker journey times following the completion of Phase One, which is why I am so keen on putting our foot down on the accelerator and getting on with delivering Phase Two.
“But as well as improving public transport, we also have a cast-iron commitment to tackling the climate emergency as part of our #WM2041 plan. A cornerstone of that is our commitment to both zero-emission vehicles and the environment, which is why it was important on this project in Walsall that we worked to ensure these mature trees on The Green could be kept.
“That means, alongside our ongoing commitment to plant 1,000 trees along or near the Sprint route, this project will protect existing trees too.”
The designs are part of plans for phase two of the Sprint route linking Walsall and Solihull town centres, via Birmingham city centre on the A34 and A45 with bus lanes and priority measures at junctions to improve journey times and reliability.
Since the completion of phase one last summer average bus journey times between Walsall and Birmingham have reduced by 6 minutes as the priority measures allow buses to bypass traffic jams on the busy route.
Walsall Council Cllr Mike Bird, who is the WMCA’s portfolio lead for transport, said: “The residents on Birmingham Road wanted us to look again at the proposals and we listened. Now they can rest assured that these trees on The Green will stay.
“Now we can get on with the work of delivering Sprint and look forward to offering the people of Walsall direct, affordable and reliable bus services to key destinations like Birmingham Airport, the NEC and Solihull.”