Harbourside road to reopen to traffic

A POPULAR Harbourside walking and cycling route is set to be reopened to motor traffic two years after it was temporarily closed.

Plans to remove the roadblocks from the bottom of Avon Crescent have sparked road safety fears as well as concerns over a rise in pollution.

Bristol City Council is planning to reopen the road after repair works are finished on the Chocolate Path later this year. Avon Crescent will become a one-way road, for cars driving eastbound from Merchants Road to Cumberland Road. Campaigners and local councillors are warning the move would make it more dangerous for the many people who walk and cycle along the road.

But council bosses say planned new bus gate restrictions further down Cumberland Road will lead to a drop in traffic. Long-held plans, as part of MetroBus, to turn Avon Crescent into a “shared space” with no pavements are also formally being scrapped. The development control B committee will vote on whether to grant the council permission to scrap the plans on Wednesday.

In planning documents, a council officer said: “It’s no longer appropriate to make any further changes to Avon Crescent. The road has no impact on the MetroBus and the original design of a shared space is now contrary to government advice. The proposed bus gate on Cumberland Road will reduce traffic using Avon Crescent compared to before the Chocolate Path repair closure, meeting many of the objectives for changes to the road. The closure of Avon Crescent currently in place for the Chocolate Path repair work will cease in early 2023 and it is proposed the bus gate come into effect at the same time.”