Westside BID street warden Enoch White came to the rescue of traffic, taxis and trams during last night’s rush hour on Broad Street (Tuesday 29 August).
Enoch’s quick thinking came when an all-white No. 10 single decker bound for Four Dwellings got stuck after clipping a raised kerb designed for trams when they stop outside Wetherspoon’s Figure of Eight pub heading towards Edgbaston Village.
A double decker bus and a tram were both stuck behind the bus and other motorists were all hooting their car horns in frustration, as you can see and hear in Enoch’s video clip here:
West Midlands Metro was advised to halt all other trams at the previous Centenary Square stop in lower Broad Street. But this caused huge congestion, as trams can only change direction once they have travelled past Five Ways Island to the terminus beyond Morrisons.
Enoch was told a rescue vehicle would not be able to arrive for 60 minutes, so he sprang into action.
He said: “The incident began at 6.17pm when the bus broke down at the Figure of Eight stop just before O’Neill’s. I was at the top of Broad Street and wondered why all of the traffic was backing up going into town, so I walked down and found what had happened.
“The driver thought she had clipped the kerb, but you couldn’t actually see any real damage. I spoke to the tram people to make them aware not to send any more trams beyond the Library of Birmingham, and they told me it could be an hour before a rescue vehicle arrived.
“You can imagine how frustrating that would have been for other road users trying to go home, so I took to directing traffic around the bus. I then realised that if I jumped onto the slightly bent ramp and slid my foot forward at the same time I might push it into space to get the bus moving again.
“The idea worked and I was able to stand on the spot to keep the sensor off so that the bus could then be driven up to a bay outside the Park Regis. The trams were then able to use Broad Street again, and traffic returned to normal. Success!”
Mike Olley, general manager of Westside BID, said: “Once again, our hero warden Enoch came to the rescue! In all seriousness, though, it was fantastic to learn how his quick-thinking rescued thousands of commuters from what could have been hours of chaos. Well done Enoch!”
● Back in July, Enoch and two police officers helped to save a woman’s life after she fell into the canal next to The Malt Shovel pub opposite Brindleyplace. You can find out more here.
ENDS
