South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) is staging a public consultation on plans to widen a stretch of Gipsy Patch Lane, on the westbound approach to the A38 Gloucester Road, adjacent to the Rolls-Royce works.
The proposed scheme will extend the dedicated westbound left-turn lane on Gipsy Patch Lane by approximately 120m. It also includes the widening of existing footways for use as shared use paths and the replacement of an existing pelican crossing with a toucan crossing.
The aim of the work is to reduce queueing for westbound traffic that is intending to turn left onto the A38. At present, traffic queuing to turn right onto the A38 blocks traffic wishing to turn left, says the council.
The scheme is one of a number of measures that the council hopes will help tackle traffic congestion and increase the capacity of the local road network ahead of the development of the planned Cribbs/Patchway New Neighbourhood, where 5,700 new homes are likely to be built by 2027.
Funding for the project is coming from the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership’s Revolving Infrastructure Fund (RIF), which is used to “forward-fund infrastructure that is required to unlock or serve growth leading to increases in job creation and housing delivery”.
Subject to approval, work on the Gipsy Patch Lane scheme is expected to start in April 2014, with an expected duration of two months.
Responses to the public consultation must be submitted by Sunday 9th March.
See also: Multiple major roadworks likely to cause delays for next year in north Bristol (Bradley Stoke Journal)
I’m surprised they aren’t going to put a bus lane in…
They need to widen the railway arch, but that will never happen.
I agree the railway bridge needs widening. But apparently there’s a preservation order on it. Maybe remove the footpath to make the road wider will help a little. And then build a new footpath bridge or tunnel.
Why on Earth would they need a preservation order on the railway bridge, cant see any anything special or unique about that?
Press release from the Filton and Bradley Stoke Green Party
GREENS ASK DFT TO LOOK INTO SOUTH GLOS TRANSPORT SCHEME
The Filton and Bradley Stoke Green Party is asking the Department for Transport to investigate why the Gipsy Patch Lane road scheme goes against all of the council’s policies, including the transport, pollution, sustainability, health, walking and cycling policies.
Spokesman Richard Burton said “When I started looking at this proposal, I was mystified because it seems to go against every council policy that applies, and increases space for motor vehicles while doing nothing for pedestrians and cyclists, exactly opposite to what all their policies say they should be doing. We have written to Jack Lopresti MP and requested that the DfT investigates this case and takes action if possible. What is the point of having all these policies if you’re just going to ignore them? We couldn’t find a single South Gloucestershire policy which supports this scheme.”
The plan is to widen Gipsy Patch Lane for motor vehicles and to put cyclists on the pavement with pedestrians, and the substandard on-road cycle lanes will not be widened. The council’s transport policies include a hierarchical list of users which has pedestrians and cyclists at the top, and motorised transport at the bottom. All other council policies which apply, pollution, sustainability and health all emphasise the need to reduce car travel and to increase walking and cycling by planning for them first.
Mr Burton said “The council’s transport policies says that they should be providing first for pedestrians and cyclists, and that shared use pavements are the last choice and only then if there isn’t enough space for on road cycle lanes, but there is plenty of space. Either the council planners don’t know their own policies, or they are just ignoring them.”
“South Gloucestershire was part of Cycling City, and has a firm commitment to providing for means of transport other than the car, especially cycling and walking, but all too often they have ignored this commitment and we end up with disasters like the new Hayes Way junction on the A38, a nightmare for both pedestrians and cyclists.”
“We’ve just had enough of the council’s failure to implement its own policies over the past fifteen years and have felt compelled to take action. Either the council should change its policies or it follows the ones it has, and there really ought to be some way of making them do that. We have responded to the council’s consultation on this scheme, but going by previous experience, we have no faith that the scheme will be changed to follow the council’s policies.”
They really need to widen this bridge and the one by parkway if not then put in pedestrian tunnels and there is plenty of room to put a cycle lane in.
@A Local: See: Council agrees to fund new study into Stoke Gifford railway bridge improvements
Absolutely staggered at stance taken by so called Green Party. Scheme makes sense to help vehicles through congested area. Stationary vehicles are such a waste of natural resources.