Two city areas over nitrogen dioxide legal limits

Birmingham's Clean Air Zone (CAZ) has made a "significant contribution" to reducing air pollution, but challenges still remain in two areas, warns the council.

The CAZ was launched in 2021 as part of Birmingham City Council's plan to tackle poor air quality. It introduced daily fees for older vehicles driving in the city centre.

A local authority report on the zone's impact said the city had some of the highest levels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) outside of London, with poor air quality responsible for about 900 premature deaths each year.

Two city centre areas, Moor Street Queensway and the A38, had "ongoing exceedances" of the legal limit of NO2, it added.

The report, which summarised air quality data from 2023, said positive progress had been made in the city council's fight for cleaner air.

The scheme appeared to discourage vehicles that did not meet its emissions standard from entering the zone, it added.

Moor Street Queensway was dominated by "high volumes of bus traffic" and was understood to be the "busiest" bus interchange in the West Midlands, with more than 60 million bus trips per year.

The CAZ team said it was working closely with Transport for West Midlands to find ways to accelerate the adoption of zero-emission buses that operate in the area.

However, the A38 St Chads Queensway was "very, very close to the legal limit for nitrogen dioxide", warned Stephen Arnold, head of the clean air zone.

Ideas being explored to improve air quality in the area included improvements to the traffic flow and a reduction in the volume of vehicles through proposed changes to the A38.

There were also three locations on the A4540 Middleway, outside of the zone, which exceeded the legal limit of NO2, confirmed the report.

Councillor Majid Mahmood said the local authority was looking to develop "robust responses to challenges" around the concerned areas.

He said revenue the council made from the scheme was "carefully considered and reinvested in long-term strategic transport projects only" and supported the delivery of the Birmingham Transport Plan.

Drivers of diesel cars manufactured before 2015 and petrol cars made before 2006 have to pay an £8 daily fee to drive inside the A4540 Middleway ring road.