Swan Island
Swan Island | |||
Location Map ( geo) | |||
| |||
Location | |||
South Yardley | |||
County | |||
Warwickshire | |||
Highway Authority | |||
Birmingham | |||
Junction Type | |||
Roundabout Intersection | |||
Roads Joined | |||
A45, A4040 | |||
Junctions related to the A4040 | |||
Swan Island is an intersection on the edge of the Yardley district of Birmingham. At this point the A45 Coventry Road meets the A4040, the former Birmingham Outer Ring Road.
It was built on the site of a much smaller roundabout and teardrop arrangement in roughly the same place, with the Swan Hotel standing next to it.
Like many roundabouts in Birmingham of a similar age, pedestrian access to cross the road is provided using four subways that connect to an area below ground level in the centre of the roundabout (although this arrangement has been increasingly eliminated recently in favour of pedestrian crossings that lead to an at-grade island in the centre). Unusually, however, the junction is partially grade separated, with straight-on movements on the A45 flowing freely underneath the junction. As a result, the subways are connected not with an underground shopping area or with corridors, but rather with a series of footbridges that allow pedestrians to walk over the A45.
For many years the junction was also home to a rundown shopping centre / indoor market also called 'The Swan', but in the last decade the whole area has seen redevelopment to provide a new centre for Yardley. The A4040 has recently been dualled, and was given alignment to provide access to the new Swan Shopping centre that opened in early 2012; as part of this, the subways and footbridge were refurbished. It is hoped that this shopping centre will help regenerate the surrounding area.
Currently the A45 is being upgraded to 3 lanes eastbound from the island to ease queues that form at evening rush hour when the queues on the slip roads can back up to the swan island itself. These improvements form part of the A45 Coventry Road Route Enhancement.
Routes
Route | To | Notes |
(M42,M6), Coventry, B'ham Airport/NEC, Sheldon | ||
City Centre , Small Heath | ||
Yardley 1, Stechford 1½, Heartlands Hospital (A&E) 2. | ||
Hall Green 3, Acock's Green 1, South Yardley ¼, Crematorium (B4146) |