New bus link will serve Chelmund's Cross

THE No 70 bus service will follow a new route from Monday, so it can serve the new Chelmund’s Cross Village Centre.

The half-hourly service, which runs between Birmingham and Solihull, will follow the same route as previously until it comes to Coleshill Heath Road.

From there it will turn into Chelmsley Road and Carisbrooke Avenue, passing a new stop at Chelmund’s Cross. Leaving the village centre, it will turn left into Dunster Road and then resume the existing route towards Chelmsley Wood.

A section of Dunster Road between Chelmsley Road and Craig Croft will no longer be served by the No 70 (which was formerly the No 90).

The diversion was discussed for over a year, with residents in Carisbrooke Avenue urging the transport authorities to consider an alternative route.

They feared that bringing double-decker buses down a road that was previously a cul-de-sac would pose a road safety problem and around 50 people signed a petition against the plans.

Solihull Council said last autumn that while it was sympathetic to residents’ views, it was important that Chelmund’s Cross was well served by public transport.

An alternative route down Chester Road was ruled out after road chiefs concluded it would have meant a large proportion of residents would have been an unreasonable distance from the nearest bus route.