Buses will be given more priority over cars along four main routes into Bristol city centre under new plans. Major changes are planned on the four key routes to make buses more punctual and journey times much quicker.
The planned works, which would likely include new bus lanes, will mean big changes to the Portway, Bath Road, the A38, and the A37 and A4018. These will also include upgrades for pedestrians and cyclists, in a multi-million pound bid to get drivers out of their cars.
The works to the four key bus routes form part of Bristol City Council’s £200 million programme of changes to the city’s transport network. Bristol was granted the cash by the government to spend up until 2027, called the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement.
Read more: Car use across Bristol region needs to halve to meet net zero climate targets
Updates on the projects were given to the growth and regeneration scrutiny commission, on Wednesday, March 22. More details should become clear of each project as individual business cases go to the cabinet or the West of England Combined Authority to get signed off.
Speaking to the scrutiny commission, Pete Woodhouse, transport strategy manager, said: “Fundamentally, we’re looking at our options on these corridors to provide as much bus priority as possible to try and reduce overall journey times.”
In total the government has given £5.7 billion to seven city regions, including £540 million to the West of England, as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements. This cash will be spent on a raft of measures to improve public transport and make it easier and safer to walk and cycle.
Buses will be given extra priority along the Portway corridor, from Jacob's Wells Road roundabout in the south to the Avonmouth roundabout in the north. Walking and cycling routes will be upgraded from the park and ride to the city centre. Transport bosses are developing different designs and few details are available, but they expect to submit an outline business case to the combined authority in December later this year.
One major change to the Portway will create access to the park and ride for buses coming from the north. Currently buses can only access the park and ride from the south, but adding northern access would mean the site could be served from the motorway, as well as providing services to the new arena in Filton. A new train station is also under construction at the park and ride, expected to open this summer.
Buses will also be given extra priority along the A4 Bath Road corridor, from Temple Meads all the way to Bath. Transport planners looked at 80 options for how the route, which suffers from heavy congestion, could be improved. This project is being led by the West of England, which will consult the public on the changes this summer. An outline business case is then expected to be signed off next winter. Walking and cycling routes will be upgraded too.
Mr Woodhouse said: “For many of the last 20 years we’ve been looking at how we can improve bus journeys along the A4 Bath Road. Much progress has been made but it’s still a significant issue, with bus travel having varying journey times. What this scheme is trying to achieve is something that can really set a new standard for punctuality along that corridor.”
A new bus lane and cycle lane will be built on the A4018 between Charlton Road and Crow Lane, in the north of the city. This project is shortly going out to tender, and is forecast to be completed by winter next year. This is part of a wider piece of work running along the number 2 bus route, going down Park Street and the A37 Wells Road. A full business case for changes to Park Street is expected in spring 2024.
Part of this work will see changes to West Town Lane and Sturminster Road in Stockwood. This will include segregated cycle lanes and relocated bus stops. What’s unclear, however, is whether any new pedestrian crossings will be built along the two busy roads — despite local councillors pushing for new crossings in previous public consultations.
Conservative Councillor Graham Morris, representing Stockwood, said: “I had engaged positively, got the message out to the community, 15,000 people saw my Facebook post on it, and then silence. And tonight, I look at the map and nothing has changed, even though I would imagine there has been quite a significant amount of feedback from the consultation. So what’s the point in a consultation if those views haven’t been taken into account?
“The gentleman in charge of the south section printed off maps for me, and myself and Cllr Jonathan Hucker drew where we would like new crossings to be, because Stockwood is criss-crossed by a few very long and quite fast roads which have no road crossings at all. We drew maybe 10 or 12 crossing points we would like to see within Stockwood, and we handed that back to the officer, who took it to another officer — who has subsequently left.”
Mr Woodhouse replied: “The slide in the presentation was from the consultation so it’s not necessarily the final scheme that will be proposed. The fact it’s here is only because this was what was in the consultation, and not what’s being brought forward.”
Construction work is already underway on the A38 in Bedminster along Malago Road. This work has been ongoing for many months already, next to a huge development of new apartments at Bedminster Green. As well as better bus lanes, contractors are laying pipes for the district heat network, and building better walking and cycling routes along the road. Transport bosses are now beginning to look further down the route, in Hengrove and Hartcliffe.
Mr Woodhouse said: “It’s proceeding well. We’re on programme at present, and we aim to reopen Malago Road in the summer of 2024.”
One bus route which is not included in these projects, however, is the A38 in the north of the city, on Cheltenham Road and Gloucester Road. While some works are planned to improve walking and cycling routes near the new arena in Filton, which is due to open in early 2026, nothing major is planned for buses on the Gloucester Road, despite this being the key route from the city centre to the arena.
Green Cllr Emma Edwards, representing Bishopston and Ashley Down, said: “There’s a lot of concern in those residential areas either side of the road. It already doesn’t take a lot for the Gloucester Road to get absolutely jam-packed. It happened the other day when there were some roadworks and it was just gridlocked. So the people who live on either side of the Gloucester Road really suffer when that happens.”
This route is one of the four lines planned in the controversial mass transit underground railway plans. The line would run from the centre, underneath Gloucester Road, past Southmead Hospital and the arena, and then to Cribbs Causeway. Costs to build the mass transit network are expected to come in between £7 billion and £18 billion, and no funding has been found yet.
Mr Woodhouse said: “I’m not aware of anything specific about interventions on the A38. The corridor is part of our mass transit aspirations. It’s difficult to see any significant intervention on the A38.”
Labour Cllr Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, added: “The problem with Gloucester Road is not the lack of funding, it’s the lack of space.”
