Your say / Transport
‘Bristol needs to take the boldest decisions possible when it comes to fixing our broken transport network’
On the same day that a cycle path through Bristol reopened with new black tarmac, Andy Burnham announced plans for an underground in Manchester by 2050.
“There’s a limit to what we can do on a congested surface,” said the Greater Manchester mayor, echoing former Bristol mayor Marvin Rees’ comments during his tenure in City Hall which were unfairly derided for being unachievable.
But Bristol needs to take the boldest decisions possible when it comes to fixing our broken transport network.
Tinkering around the edges just won’t do anymore and plans for tunnels underneath our city should most definitely still be seen as possible; as they now are for Manchester.
At the very least, let’s reinstate just a small part of Bristol’s network of trams that used to connect the entire city before German bombs finished off what car-centric planners were already beginning.
Dan Norris, the He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named former metro mayor, was dismissive in his critique of Rees’ underground vision.
New metro mayor Helen Godwin is regularly seen at photo shoots announcing new transport initiatives be they electrified buses or soon-to-reopen railway lines.
A first trip on an underground train in Bristol, however, will be a photo opportunity for a successor long in the future.
I do hope that I live to see the day when I can leave home with my grandchildren, go down an escalator at Millennium Square and resurface a few stops later on Gloucester Road to make the short walk to the 30,000-capacity Memorial Stadium to watch Bristol Rovers play in the Women’s Super League.
Dear Bristol City Council. This black tarmac is a great improvement from the previous invisible cycle lane but I’m looking forward to a red surface soon. pic.twitter.com/OnB0oqYIBH
— Martin Booth (@beardedjourno) July 10, 2025
A black tarmac surface might not seem like much but improving the cycle path between the Watershed and the Colston plinth is something that has been desperately needed for years.
So to finally see it happen should be applauded (as should the permanent pedestrianisation of Princess Victoria Street which will hopefully now be an exemplar project for other parts of Bristol).
It may be nowhere near enough but it is a start and I look forward to a new high-friction red surface coming soon as well as many more segregated cycle paths.
If we can’t differentiate between a pavement and a cycle path, how can we achieve the visionary transport changes that Bristol so desperately needs?
This is an opinion piece by Martin Booth, the Editor of Bristol24/7
Main photo: Martin Booth
Read next:
Our newsletters emailed directly to you
