Amesbury Road paving slabs

A site meeting was held this afternoon to discuss the future of the paving slabs of Amesbury Road. Councillor Martin Mullaney, various Transportation Engineers, various Amesbury Road residents and a representative from the Moseley Society, attended the meeting.

At attempt by Transportation earlier this year to remove the slabs and replace with tarmac was halted after complaints from local residents and pressure from Councillor Martin Mullaney.

Amesbury Road is in Moseley Conservation and has an Article 4 directive, which stops the residents removing original front doors and windows. The houses were built between 1900 and 1910 and were designed by some of Birmingham finest Edwardian architects. It contains several statutory listed houses.

Transportation want to replace the slabs since the vast majority are cracked and are now trip hazards

At the meeting Transportation agree to do the following:
· Replace the cracked slabs with new slabs.
· The pavement will be completely reconstructed and raised a few inches to discourage cars and vans parking on the pavement – this is what has caused the slabs to be cracked
· The new pavement will have a stronger foundation to prevent future slabs being cracked.
· The granite kerbstones will be carefully lifted out and reused. However, Transport emphasized that a large number will crack when lifted out since they are very fragile.
· The granite kerbstones will be initially be re-used on the west side of Amesbury Road before being used on the east side. Cars are parked all day on the east side, so there will be better viewing of them on the west side.
· When the granite kerbstones run out, a granite look-a-like kerbstone will be used.
· The replacement driveways on the pavement will be re-constructed in concrete, as opposed to tarmac. This is for aesthetic reasons. The re-constructed driveway will stretch the entire width of the pavement, so as to avoid future pavement slab cracking.
· Square potholes for new trees will be allocated in the new pavement – the tree section to advise on locations. Plastic root guards will be inserted ready for the new trees.
· The re-construction of the pavement will begin in about two months.