Ring road Improvements could take three years
MOTORISTS could face three years of traffic misery on Bristol ring road after a £30million scheme of road-widening and “throughabouts” was unveiled.
South Gloucestershire Council has launched a 12-week consultation seeking people’s views on the plans aimed at tackling congestion on the A4174 and stopping drivers using nearby residential roads as rat-runs.
Huge changes will be made to five major intersections on a fivemile stretch between Lyde Green and Kingsfield roundabouts, including ploughing lanes of traffic through the middle of three of them to create “throughabouts” or “hamburger roundabouts”.
More traffic lights and entry lanes will be installed, some trees removed and replaced, and land at the edges of the dual carriageway developed to provide the extra space.
No dedicated bus lanes are envisaged but sensors will detect when the vehicles are approaching to give priority, while improvements for pedestrians and cyclists are also included.
The roundabouts in the proposed project are Lyde Green, The Rosary (also known as Emersons Green), Siston Hill, Deanery Road and Kingsfield.
Feedback will help form a business case to be sent to the Government for approval and funding, with work expected to start in phases from next year and end in 2025.
The council says that although the scheme involves road-widening, the intention is to encourage “necessary strategic car trips” because the A4174 is the most suitable for commutes in the area and that it will actually improve air quality by easing congestion.
A lack of bus lanes will raise a few eyebrows after the local authority changed the road’s layout at the Hambrook traffic lights near the M32 in 2019 to comply with a government directive to tackle dangerously high nitrogen dioxide emissions.
That included removing the westbound bus lane to create a third lane of general traffic heading towards the motorway.
And last year First Bus managing director James Freeman, who has since retired, said in an open letter to Bristol residents that the £230million of public money spent on metrobus had been “largely wasted” because services were getting stuck in roadworks and gridlock.
Many of the delays were blamed on traffic chaos in parts of the city’s “northern fringe” in South Gloucestershire, from Filton, Patchway and Bradley Stoke around the ring road to Emersons Green and down the M32.
The council says the latest plans will “help the flow of public transport through improved junction performance”.
Cabinet member for regeneration, environment and strategic infrastructure Cllr Steve Reade said: “We want to reduce congestion and improve air quality in South Gloucestershire so have explored options to improve five junctions on the A4174.
“The ring road is a key transport corridor in our area, providing a link between the A4 and Bath to the south and the M32 and the M4 to the north, and serves as a strategic route to avoid travelling through the Bristol urban area. It also provides access to a number of local residential and employment areas.
“This scheme is designed to encourage necessary strategic car trips to remain on the A4174, the most suitable road designed to accommodate longer distance car journeys, and to deter traffic from rerouting through our local communities.”
“It is anticipated that with no intervention, congestion along the A4174 and on adjacent routes will worsen due to planned growth. The surrounding roads, such as the A420, pass directly through environmentally sensitive areas, air quality management areas, and residential and shopping areas. Any additional traffic loading on these sensitive routes is inappropriate.”
While people are encouraged to engage remotely, face-to-face events will be held at Warmley community centre in Deanery Road, Kingswood, between 5pm and 8pm on Wednesday, June 30, and at Emersons Green village hall from 1pm to 5.30pm on Saturday, July 10.