A45 and A34 SPRINT Infrastructure Schemes Successfully Completed

Fitzgerald are proud to have successfully completed two significant highway upgrade schemes in Birmingham with the Sprint bus-based transit system finished on time for the start of the Commonwealth Games. The new route is ready to welcome passengers with more reliable journey times, dedicated bus lanes and priority at key junctions.

Each of the schemes undertaken by Fitzgerald involved carriageway widening, surfacing, junction improvements, footway works, traffic signal works and landscaping. The A34 Sprint scheme was undertaken on behalf of West Midlands Combined Authority (WMCA) and its transport team Transport for West Midlands (TfWM). The contract consisted of Package B from Scott Arms to Tame Valley Canal and Package C between Tame Valley Canal and Perry Barr, together totalling £5m across the 4km route.

The A45 Sprint scheme for Morgan Sindall involved the construction of the route from Moor Street Queensway in Birmingham City Centre and extending a distance of 9km along the A45 infrastructure corridor to Yardley. A45 Sprint was one of the most challenging urban infrastructure schemes under construction in the UK and at a value of £11m has been one of the largest contracts that Fitzgerald have delivered. At preconstruction our team carried out a formal Early Contractor Involvement (ECI) process with Morgan Sindall to comprehensively review the A45 Sprint scheme’s buildability and explore value engineering elements around statutory utilities and traffic management, resulting in the creation of a robust joint construction delivery programme.

Highlights of our project delivery include social value whereby we welcomed three new Apprentices to the A45 contract as part of their Level 2 Groundworker Apprenticeship.