Staff, patients and visitors who use the canal towpath on their route to the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Birmingham (QEHB) are advised that there will be closures while improvement work is carried out by the Canal & River Trust and Birmingham City Council.

The work at the University Station towpath access/egress will start on Thursday 18 August 2016 and completion is scheduled for Thursday 17 November 2016.

The existing steep steps will be replaced with an improved stepped access of a shallower gradient which will be more cycle-friendly.

The canal towpath will be closed between The Dingle (to the south) and Somerset Road (to the north) in two phases:

1. Thursday 18 August 2016 – Tuesday 20 September 2016
2. Monday 10 October 2016 – Thursday 17 November 2016

During these periods, access/egress to the towpath will be at The Dingle (south) and Somerset Road (north).

Please note, there is no access at either the Bristol Road bridge or Pritchatt’s Road bridge.

The first phase of the work will allow the removal of the existing steps plus other works. The towpath will then re-open fully. However, access to the towpath at University Station will be closed as there will be no steps in situ. Works will continue with the towpath open for a while.

The second phase of towpath closure will involve the installation of new steps and other works. After Thursday 17 November 2016 the access steps will be ready to use again and the towpath re-opened in full.

Notices detailing the closures have also been put up by the Canal & River Trust at the following points:

• The Dingle
• Bristol Road Bridge
• University Station Bridge
• Somerset Road Bridge
• The Vale
• Edgbaston Tunnel

A spokesperson for the Canal & River Trust said: “We appreciate the closures will be very inconvenient for a while but hopefully the much-improved access will be worth it in the end.

“The contractor has tried to minimise the closures and re-open the towpath wherever possible within the overall construction phase, and naturally wherever possible we’ll look to re-open more swiftly wherever the opportunities arise.”

The towpath will be re-opened for one day on Saturday 10 September 2016 for the pre-arranged Canal Canter event.