News / Transport
Bike lanes on Gloucester Road were paused because of Rees’ underground plans
Plans for new bike lanes along Gloucester Road were “set to one side” for years due to the debate about building a Bristol underground network.
The flagship policy of Marvin Rees was constructing a mass transit network with underground sections of railway.
This never got built because the former mayor, now Lord Rees of Easton, failed to convince other politicians to back his idea which he first floated in 2017 but which eventually hit the buffers and was vetoed in 2023.
In the meantime, transport planners at City Hall hesitated from building any bike lanes along Gloucester Road – one of Bristol’s busiest cycling routes – in case they ended up having to dig up the road again to build an underground railway.
Discussions between Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority are now about to take place over the future of the route.
An update on Gloucester Road was given to councillors on the transport policy committee as part of wider investment in the roads around the new indoor arena being built on the old Filton Airfield.
Adam Crowther, head of city transport, said: “The A38 has been set on one side because we’ve been talking about mass transit for a long time, along essentially that alignment.
“So there hasn’t been a push to go and do lots of bus priority and active travel schemes, like we might do on a long corridor scheme.
“Because you don’t want to do something that you then make completely different.
“I think we need to probably review that approach because we can’t wait forever to improve the A38.
“We’ll be discussing mass transit options with the combined authority and as part of that we do need to be looking at the short to medium term future of the A38.”
The cost would range between £10m and £30m, depending on the length of the route.
Initially a light-touch scheme would focus on the problem spots and pinch points along Gloucester Road, rather than building a segregated bike path along its whole length.
The road is narrow in parts, so a segregated cycle lane “probably isn’t feasible”.
The works would likely be paid for from the giant Transport for City Regions pot of funding, which the Department for Transport gave to WECA in 2025.
Over the next five years, the West of England has £752m to improve walking, cycling and public transport routes across the wider Bristol and Bath region.
Green councillor Emma Edwards, who represents Bishopston & Ashley Down, said: “It’s a massive cycling corridor and it’s so piecemeal.
“There are some bits that are great and some bits that are absolutely horrific.
“There are people who won’t cycle down Gloucester Road because it doesn’t feel safe enough.”
This article is published as part of the BBC-funded Local Democracy Reporting Service. Another website in Bristol is making its readers pay for LDRS stories but at Bristol24/7 we will never have a paywall. If you want to support our independent journalism, please consider becoming a member from just £3 per month.
Main photo: Martin Booth
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