Travel Bus gate plans to speed up metrobus service
THE council plans to build a bus gate to prevent delays to the m2 metrobus service on Cumberland Road, according to Bristol’s top strategic transport official.
The details of the plans are sketchy at this stage, but they are tied up with major works to stabilise the road and improve flood defences after part of the river wall collapsed in January.
The works are not expected to be completed until summer 2022, according to a Bristol City Council spokesperson.
Cumberland Road was closed in January when the embankment wall between it and the River Avon New Cut collapsed, taking with it the Chocolate Path and the ground underneath the Harbour Railway.
The road was a popular rat run for commuters and the route for the m2 metrobus and the main city centre A1 airport bus.
Those bus services have since joined long traffic queues on Coronation Road on the other side of the river bank, and Cumberland Road has reopened one way.
Buses regularly got stuck in traffic on the approach to the Bedminster Bridge roundabout.
Adam Crowther, the council’s head of strategic city transport, told scrutiny councillors the bus gate would give the m2 a free run by creating a “pseudo bus lane”.
The road would be “two way” either side of the bus gate but would stop inbound traffic getting to the Bedminster bridges, he said.
The council was unable to provide any more detail at this stage, according to a spokesperson.
Mr Crowther told members of the overview and scrutiny management board: “In terms of Cumberland Road, the proposal is essentially to have a bus gate...an inbound bus gate so that you can’t travel inbound the full length of Cumberland Road.
“So either side of it, it’s two-way, and outbound it’s clear all the way through. But inbound there’s a gate which stops the traffic going through to Bedminster bridges.
“The reasoning behind that is obviously the metrobus route is one of our major investments in terms of public transport link to the park and ride site.
“It does get held up on the approach to the Bedminster bridges, and whilst we tried putting bus lanes in there, it’s not enough and the bus still gets stuck in that section.
“So what we’re trying to do is essentially make that section of the route like a pseudo bus lane.
“By not having the through traffic it means there’s never enough traffic to delay the bus as it approaches the junction.
“So, it’s all about partly creating that much better public transport offer and ensuring that the metrobus is on time and frequent and not delayed, and secondly, reducing the volume of traffic options that there are for people to drive into the centre of town.
“So if you’re coming from that side of the city, you’ve got the Portway Park & Ride, you’ve got the Long Ashton Park & Ride and you have two or three other road options as well.
“What we’re saying is this route is for public transport and we’re going to prioritise it for public transport.”
He said the plans were among measures to improve air quality in Bristol that are linked to the council’s ongoing work to submit plans for a clean air zone.
A council spokespeson said: “The river wall reconstruction work to Cumberland Road is ongoing and now forms part of the wider Cumberland Road stabilisation programme that will provide some improved flood defences along a 110-metre stretch of the New Cut.
“This is a major programme of work that’s expected to last until summer 2022.”