News / East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood
Details of improvements to notorious junction at heart of liveable neighbourhood woes
Details have been revealed of upcoming improvements to a notorious junction, considered by some the heart of problems with the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood.
The junction of Blackswarth Road, Church Road and Chalks Road, which has faced traffic flow problems and long queues, will now be given upgrades to reduce the problem.
Sited next to the Red Church and the Fire Engine, the junction often comes up in criticism of the liveable neighbourhood.
Bollards, planters and bus gates have forced more drivers to use this route. But turning right from Blackswarth Road onto Church Road is tricky as drivers have to wait for a gap in oncoming traffic.
And if just a few cars are waiting to turn right, they can block the rest of the traffic behind them from going straight over onto Chalks Road.
But Bristol City Council is planning to redesign the junction and introduce a new right-turn-only phase on the traffic lights, to prevent these problems from happening.
The liveable neighbourhood trial was launched in late 2024 – photo: Martin Booth
The upgrades to the junction form part of making the liveable neighbourhood trial into a permanent scheme, which was approved by councillors on the transport policy committee on July 9.
However, the council is still waiting to get funding from the West of England Combined Authority before other associated upgrades to the scheme can be rolled out.
The junction has long been a bottleneck but congestion appears to have become worse since the liveable neighbourhood trial was first introduced.
In particularly busy times, queues of cars snake outside St Patrick’s Catholic Primary School, sparking pollution concerns among parents.
Other upgrades include making crossing the junction easier for pedestrians and scrapping some turning bans so drivers can take simpler and shorter journeys.
Main photo: Alex Seabrook
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