• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Thursday January 16 2025
• Author Name: Peter Davison

Could Bristol’s Park Street be closed to traffic?

Bristol’s Park Street could be closed to through traffic under new plans unveiled today (Thursday) by Bristol City Council.

The council says its no-through-traffic plans would allow Park Street “to be made into a pleasant environment and encourage people to spend more time supporting the local businesses and cultural venues.”

Under the proposals a bus gate would be installed at the top of Park Street. Motorists would still be able to drive onto Park Street but access would only be from St George’s Road.

Through-traffic, however, would be fed along Park Row or Anchor Road.

The plans – part of the central section of the £37.5 million A37 and A4018 transport corridor improvement project that follows the number 2 bus route from Henbury in the north of Bristol to Stockwood in the south – also include reducing Queen’s Road to one lane in both directions from Whiteladies Road to the Clifton Triangle, widening the pavements on Park Street, and creating a large area of public space in front of the Victoria Rooms.

The central section work is expected to cost around £15 million – with funds coming from the government as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, which is administered by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the council’s transport and connectivity committee, said: “We need to make significant changes to our road network if we are to meet Bristol’s environmental targets and respond to the travel needs of a growing population.

“As part of our transport corridors programme, we are sharing our updated designs for the central section of the number 2 bus route. We have changed these in response to feedback from the public consultation, which took place towards the end of 2021 and looked at the whole route.

“As it has been a while since then, we wanted to share the plans again as well as highlight the changes we’ve made to them. They show that by changing how road space is used we can speed up buses, so they are more reliable, and create new areas of open space for people to enjoy with new trees, planting, and seating areas.

“These are transformative proposals that rethink how road space is allocated and will change the way we all use the area, so please take a look at our updated designs.

“We are not asking for your views at this point, as we have already consulted widely on the original plans and made changes based on the feedback we received.

“We are also holding a statutory consultation in the spring or summer on all the necessary traffic regulation orders for this section of the route, including the Park Street bus gate.”

How the scheme could look – Park Street from Great George Street

The main plans include:

• Reducing Queens Road to one lane in both directions from Whiteladies Road to the Triangle.
• Introducing more areas of public space, including a large area in front of the Victoria Rooms on Queens Road.
• Closing Park Street to through traffic using a bus gate at the top of Park Street and a bus lane at the College Green and Canons Road junction.
• Adding a continuous segregated cycleway from the bottom of Whiteladies Road to link to the cycleway on Park Row.
• Upgrading bus stops and adding new ones.
• Widening pavements and improving crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
• Removing some pay and display parking and adding more disabled parking.

The main changes following public consultation include:

• Creating an inbound bus lane from Whiteladies Road that continues to the Queens Road/Triangle bus stops.
• Adding more detail to the public spaces on Queens Road, University Road and Park Street.
• Installing a segregated cycleway going in the direction of traffic on the north side of Queens Road.
• More cycle and e-scooter parking and laybys.
• Making Great George Street one-way in to Hill Street and making Charlotte Street one-way out from Hill Street.
• New pedestrian access to College Green.

George Burton, head of Network First Bristol, said: “We fully support the council’s plans through one of the most congested parts of the city. These proposals would make our services more reliable and help to encourage more people to travel by bus along this high frequency transport corridor.

“Our Whiteladies Road services, including the numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, 77 and Y6, encounter serious delays because of congestion when reaching Park Street, particularly when heading down towards the city centre. We have seen the amount of traffic steadily increase over the past year. At peak times, at around 4.30pm, journeys are taking an extra 10 minutes from this time last year.

“The scheme to improve the road layout and prioritise buses through this busy part of the city is essential for us to run punctual timetables. We need to make bus journey times competitive against other modes if we are to promote sustainable travel in the city. These plans, along with other investment into bus infrastructure on key bus routes across the city, will help us to achieve these aims.”

Following a decision on the statutory consultation, which will take place in spring/summer 2025, construction work could potentially begin at the end of the year. In the meantime, the council will be speaking with local businesses to seek their input on what else they would like to see in the area.

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