Paradise Circus

Paradise Circus was a large gyratory on the former A4400 Birmingham Inner Ring Road (now A38) connecting the western radials of the city centre with the Queensway system. Despite the name, it was anything but paradise as the gyratory flowed around in concrete cuttings and tunnels with sliproads merging and exiting at all opportunities.

The A38 passes underneath in a tunnel and avoids the weaving movements caused by this junction.

History

Earliest known proposal from mid 20th century

Alternative plan for the junction with tunnels shown in grey

Layout which was built and existed until 2015

Various designs for the junction were drawn up before the eventual design was chosen and built. The earliest and simplest consisted of two small roundabouts with no grade separation. The most interesting was very similar to the junction as we know it but with a freeflow link to the A457. The A38 tunnel would have been shorter and emerged before rounding the curve into Great Charles St. The layout eventually built was for one large gyratory and grade separation only for the A38.

In December 2014 it was announced that the tunnel forming the eastern side of the roundabout would be removed and all traffic currently using the gyratory will use its western side. This was carried out a year later. The main A38 tunnels under the interchange were unaffected.

In 2021, the remaining road - now restricted to public transport - was renamed Lyon Queensway.