Delays to crucial transport works surrounding the new Bristol arena could “cause chaos and calamity” for people living nearby.
A new 17,000-spectator arena is under construction on the northern edge of the city, with more than 2,000 homes being built too. But necessary changes to the road layout around the Brabazon Hangars could face delays after a vote on funding was postponed.
South Gloucestershire Council leader Toby Savage warned any delays to the £6.6-million infrastructure package could “heap misery” onto residents — as gig-goers would struggle to get to and from the arena if the transport works aren’t finished by the time the venue opens.
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He said: “The clock is ticking. We need the certainty to be able to move ahead with this project, to make sure that we do not end up in a calamitous situation of an arena opening without the supporting infrastructure to be able to get people to and from that new venue, heaping utter chaos and misery onto the communities that immediately adjoin the site.”
The Arena Infrastructure Package includes building new segregated cycle lanes, wider pavements, parking controls, dropped kerbs, tactile paving, improved pedestrian crossings, and new signposts, all to help people travel to and from the new venue. The package also includes upgrading traffic lights and junctions near the arena, and relocating bus stops.
But South Gloucestershire Council needs to secure £6,637,000 from the West of England combined authority’s investment fund, before transport planners can get started on writing up a full business case. The combined authority was due to vote on approving that cash on Friday, September 23, however the item was dropped from the agenda.
Cllr Savage asked the combined authority to vote on securing the cash needed for the transport works, but was told by West of England metro mayor Dan Norris that it was now “too late”. The vote will now likely be held in October — but time is running out for South Gloucestershire before a pre-election pause in March next year, ahead of the May elections.
Mr Norris said: “I’m supportive of the Northern Fringe, I really am, but I think it’s too late to give proper due diligence to what is a significant matter. What I would like to propose is that we bring it to another meeting for full consideration. We have a meeting next month and we’ll try and get it in there, if we possibly can, because we need to discuss it and I want to discuss it in a full and proper way, because it’s important. We do need to get it absolutely right.”
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