Bristol infrastructure set for £21m investment

Roads across Bristol are set for a £21m investment with work including fixing potholes and repairing bridges.

Bristol City Council’s transport policy committee is due to approve spending the money on a variety of improvements.

Priority will be given to roads with bus routes, cycle routes and near hospitals and schools.

Elsewhere, the works include inspecting and repairing the Frome culverts, a series of large tunnels which carries the River Frome under the city centre.

Bristol City Council is spending millions to stabilise the crumbling infrastructure around the New Cut in a massive repair project

Councillors on the transport committee will vote on approving the investment on Thursday.

A committee report set out the details of the spending, including how much would be spent on each individual project over the next five years.

The report said: “The annual road maintenance programme focuses on preventative maintenance, to stop or slow down the wear and tear of the road.

“The plan includes both routine repairs and full replacement at key locations.

“This work is essential to meet the council’s legal duty to maintain safe roads.

“The programme represents a significant capital investment intended to maintain essential highway infrastructure and reduce long‑term liabilities.”

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A recent inspection of the Netham Lock bridges found that one might need to be fully replaced, while the other bridge needs structural repairs.

Vehicle restraint sites will also be repaired.

These barriers make sure vehicles stay on the road, stopping them from driving up over embankments or falling vertical drops onto railway lines or into the harbour.

Seventy seven of these sites urgently need inspecting, repairing or replacing.

Repairs to the New Cut walls, including along York Road, will also continue.

The money included in this pot of funding won’t cover the whole cost of the extensive repairs, but the council is exploring other ways of paying the repair bill.

The work is needed to stop the river walls from crumbling, which is particularly important given the main roads on either side.

The Netham Lock bridges, at the eastern end of the Feeder Canal, play an important role in Bristol’s flood defences

If the spending is approved, then this year £3.3m will be spent on annual road maintenance, with £1.75m annually the next four years.

Some £1.4m will be spent on repairing the Netham Lock bridges this year.

Some £1m will be spent inspecting and repairing the Frome culvert this year, with £500,000 annually the next four years.

Repairing highway retaining walls will cost £250,000 annually over the next four years.

Bridge inspections will cost the same amount too, apart from in 2029-30 when £500,000 is planned.

Repairs for vehicle restraint sites will cost £475,000 this year then £250,000 next year.

Upgrading highway electrical assets will cost £500,000 in 2026 then £250,000 in 2027.

And £3m will be spent from this pot of money this year on repairing the New Cut walls.

Also including in the package of funding is £325,000 this year for upgrading the electrics at Queen Square, so large events there can be powered without using polluting generators.

Alex Seabrook is a local democracy reporter for Bristol

All photos: Betty Woolerton

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