News / cycling
‘Absolutely horrendous’ bike lane to get upgraded
An “absolutely horrendous” bike lane in Bristol will finally get upgraded with transport planners exploring the potential for a new bridge.
The narrow pavement on the wide A4 Bath Road south of Temple Meads is shared between people walking and cycling and is a very busy route.
Pedestrians and cyclists squeeze past each other on the tiny pavement to get from south Bristol neighbourhoods like Totterdown, Knowle and Brislington to the city centre or Temple Meads.
is needed now More than ever
Cycling there can feel dangerous and precarious next to fast travelling cars and lorries.
Bristol City Council is now exploring options for how to improve this, spending £712,000 from a Department for Transport grant on developing a business case.
Councillors on the transport policy committee welcomed the potential upgrades on September 11.
A notoriously poor cycle lane could get a welcome upgrade
Labour councillor for Brislington East Tim Rippington said: “I’m absolutely delighted to see the Bath Road scheme will be getting looked at.
“I actually proposed closing one of the lanes on the Bath Road during the pandemic to enable more people to walk up and down there, but unfortunately nobody agreed with me at the time.
“It would have been a very good thing to do.
“That path up and down the Bath Road is absolutely horrendous for cyclists and pedestrians.
If you want to encourage more people to come in from my area, Brislington, then doing something about that footpath and cycleway is absolutely imperative.
“The only way you’re going to be able to do this is to widen outwards.”
The scheme looks at the route along the A4 Bath Road Bridges roundabout, up to the Three Lamps junction with the A37 Wells Road.
This is already a very busy location and is expected to get busier, with a massive development planned for the nearby Arena Island as well as the new southern entrance to Temple Meads where the Kwik Fit garage was.
One option could be to build a new bridge between the Three Lamps junction and Cattle Market Road. More than 4,000 people use the shared path every day, according to council figures.
It’s unclear when the designs will be revealed, or when the final plans will actually get built out.
Green councillor for Knowle Cam Hayward added: “As a Knowle councillor, this links up to the Wells Road that goes through my ward.
“I would like us to consider cheaper options around reallocating road space on the existing bridges.”
Alex Seabrook is a local democracy reporter for Bristol
All photos: Alex Seabrook
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