News / Barton Hill
Police join contractors as bus gate installed before sunrise
Dozens of police officers joined council contractors in the early hours of Thursday morning as a bus gate in Barton Hill was finally installed.
The bus gate, part of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme, is now on Avonvale Road.
On Thursday, some people drove their cars straight through the gate in both directions while others took alternative routes, with Beam Street becoming particularly busy.
At around 4am, a small group of women lay down on Marsh Lane to prevent contractors painting the road and installing another bus gate outside Barton House.
One man who parked his car on Beam Street to get a newspaper from the Spar on Avonvale Road, called the move to install the bus gate before sunrise “sneaky”.
He said: “I had a feeling they’d do that at nighttime. It will cause chaos.”
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Several of the protesters who lay down on Marsh Lane are currently fasting because it is Ramadan and were unable to have their Suhoor pre-dawn meal.
Another protester said that no legal notice had been given that the roads would be closed in order to install the bus gates.
Fadumo Farah, who lives in Barton House, said that she left her home before 4am after being notified about what was happening via a WhatsApp group.
She said: “The police officers told me they were here to keep the peace but it looks like they were assisting.
“We were only four women and one man. We were peacefully protesting and there were around 50 police officers…
“They said we would get arrested and we were breaking the law for protesting on the road.”
As protesters filmed police officers, one officer filmed the protesters.
The newly installed bus gate on Avonvale Road – photo: Martin Booth
When contractors divided themselves to work on different sections of the infrastructure including on Marsh Lane and Avonvale Road, protesters also split up.
Infrastructure was also installed before dawn on Victoria Avenue.
Farah added: “My position is supporting the community. As soon as I saw so many police officers, that was really disappointing because there were only a few of us…
“I have seen so many women broken and crying. We missed our special meal with our family this morning and now we are fasting…
“I asked them to bring us water or something but they refused to do that.”
Main photo: Fadumo Farah
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