A new 24-hour bus lane is among the traffic works being planned for a key route in Henbury. Bristol City Council are consulting the public on changes to the junction between Falcondale Road and Henbury Road.
The plans for the bus lane along Falcondale Road have been criticised by local ward councillor for Henbury and Brentry, Mark Weston, although the council says they will improve bus journey times. The proposal includes widening the existing traffic island on the southern arm of Falcondale Road to improve the crossing point for pedestrians, making the inbound lane on Falcondale Road ‘right turn only’, as well as stopping cars from turning right from Falcondale Road into Henbury Road, among other things.
According to a consultation page on the council's website, the new bus lane would "serve the number 1 and 13 bus services which currently get held up in traffic which can queue past Greystoke Avenue and would help to improve bus journey times and be an important part of the wider strategic bus network." But Cllr Weston told Bristol Live that, while he agrees with many of the changes, he thinks the new bus lane would create more traffic.
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"What I think will happen is you'll have the bus lane put in, and then it will back up the traffic up and over Brentry Hill and therefore delay other buses further down the route. So I think you're going to end up with a situation a bit like we had over the Downs where they put in a very long bus lane, and it actually caused massive tailbacks.
"So I'm not convinced that those bus lanes are needed but what I would say is I think people need to engage and we're going to see what the council comes back with." He also added that the 24-hour bus lane is unlikely to lead to improved bus services which run through the night to Henbury.
"As far as I can tell I don't think this is a precursor to that. Henbury's got a fair few buses, we've got the number one, the two, the 76, the three, four - we're fairly well served. But it's one of those that actually invariably, when you're out of the suburbs, you also have to use cars.
"There's got to be a balance between buses and cars and I'm not convinced that a 24-hour bus lane on that stretch of road is going to do very much. I think were going to spend a lot of money to prove that they don't do very much."
A spokesperson for Bristol City Council said: "The traffic signals at the crossroad junction with Falcondale Road and Henbury Road need to be replaced because of their age and condition. This gives us an opportunity to upgrade and improve the junction for all road users, including pedestrians and cyclists.
"We are proposing a number of changes, including wider footpaths, improved crossing points, and changes to the lane layouts to improve the safety and efficiency of the junction. We are also proposing a 24-hour bus lane on Falcondale Road to improve inbound bus journey times.
"This would serve the number 1 bus service that gets held up in traffic, which can queue past Greystoke Avenue. The number 1 runs from 5am to midnight and in between those times the 24-hour bus lane can still be used by cycles, motorbikes and taxis.
"A 24-hour bus lane will mean we can paint the surface red, which helps us to enforce it, and will mean we do not need to change it again if the times the bus operates are extended in the future. Installing the 24-hour bus lane is expected to cost around £20,000, depending on the condition of the road, with the majority of the funding for this project to be spent on replacing the traffic signals and improving the junction."
The consultation closes on May 8 and you can view it by clicking here.
