Plans approved to reintroduce speed cameras to Castle Brom

ROAD SAFETY: This speed camera on the Chester Road was switched
off in 2013, but a new digital device is being installed at the site.

PLANS to bring back speed cameras at two accident blackspots in North Solihull were given the go-ahead last month.
As part of a new pilot scheme, a digital device will be installed on the Bradford Road/Chester Road (between Timberley Lane and Hurst Lane.)
And, if the money is available, Solihull Council’s highways bosses will also consider a second camera
on the northbound carriageway of the Collector Road.
Overall, the council will be pumping £400,000 into the road safety project, which will be run jointly with Birmingham City Council.
The two stretches of road in the Castle Bromwich area have been identified as priorities because both have a history of collisions and drivers breaking the speed limit.
The plans have been agreed just over two years since the decision was taken to switch off more than 300 speed cameras across the West Midlands region.
At the time there was a fierce debate among borough councillors about whether this was the right course of action.
Many Labour and Lib Dem members believed the cameras played a crucial part in road safety and pulling the plug could see a catastrophic increase in accidents.
The Tories, meanwhile, argued that the devices had had their day and that the financial strain of replacing an ageing network would be too great.
In April 2013, when the cameras were turned off, highways bosses said that the emphasis would switch to mobile speed traps, which could be move between locations as required.
But the idea of reintroducing fixed cameras to the most dangerous sites was always on the table, with Birmingham and Solihull spending many months thrashing out an agreement.
Councillor Ted Richards, cabinet member for transport and highways, has been told that the success of the new digital technology could pave the way for cameras to be reintroduced in greater numbers across the region.