Miles of roads will close if there’s no Bristol underground, council …

A mass rapid transit system for Bristol that is entirely above ground would mean many of the main roads into the city would have to close for general traffic, council transport officers have predicted. The Mayor of Bristol says it is further proof that the city must ‘go underground or fail again’ to provide better transport^[1] links.

Details have now been released of exactly how key roads through Bristol, including Gloucester Road between the city centre and Horfield^[2], the A420 between Lawrence Hill and Kingswood^[3] and the A38 through Bedminster^[4], would be either closed to general traffic completely, made into one-way systems or have lengthy traffic light-controlled ‘shuttle’ systems – if the proposed mass transit system for Bristol is kept entirely above ground.

A key meeting next Friday will see the West of England Combined Authority decide on what happens next with the mass transit system project, called Future4West. Ahead of the meeting, Bristol City Council^[5] has revealed what its own transport officers assess as the implications for WECA pursuing the reportedly cheaper option of keeping any mass transit system above ground.

According to notes revealed by that transport team, those major road and traffic changes affecting miles of main roads into Bristol, and alternative routes for traffic, would have to happen to make room for a completely-above-ground mass rapid transit system. The release will continue the debate about the mass rapid transit system plans – and whether most, some or none of any transport system in the future should be dug underground.

West of England metro mayor Dan Norris has been adamant that any kind of underground option for any of the four mass transit system routes proposed would be too expensive and will never happen. Bristol Mayor Marvin Rees^[8] has maintained that an underground-overground hybrid solution, where the train or tram system goes into tunnels as it approaches the city centre, is the only viable option, without creating huge disruption to the roads approaching the city centre and areas like Horfield, Montpelier, Bedminster, Knowle, Brislington, Barton Hill, Lawrence Hill, St George and Kingswood.

Today, Bristol City Council released their own assessment of what keeping the mass transit system above ground would mean on the ground itself.

North route

The junction of Zetland Road, Elton Road and Gloucester Road, just north of The Arches in Bishopston/Redland (Image: Google Maps)

The NC08 route is listed in the report to WECA as the shortlisted above-ground route from the north of Bristol. It would run above ground along the A38 to Monks Park Road, then go via Southmead^[9] Hospital. As the route gets closer in to Bristol City Centre^[10], and Gloucester Road narrows, two options for what would happen to general traffic are being considered. Both of those two options would see a 700-metre long cut-and-cover tunnel constructed under the A38 in Horfield between its junctions with Ashley Down Road and Muller Road.

From Ashley Down Road, one option would make the A38 Gloucester Road into a one-way system for general traffic with Ashley Road and Ashley Down Road. The second option would see the A38 closed to general traffic entirely between Horfield and Stokes Croft.

When the mass rapid transit system reaches Stokes Croft, the main A38 would become a one-lane road for general traffic to make room for it, with traffic light controls at either end between the Ashley Road junction and the Bearpit.

East route

Church Road in Redfield

According to Bristol City Council’s analysis, the ‘all overground’ option would effectively see the mass rapid transit system replace buses, cars, vans and lorries on the A420 all the way from the Lawrence Hill roundabout to Kingswood. The road would be entirely closed, apart from a short section of that main road when it becomes part of a one-way system between Chalks Road and Summerhill Road. General traffic would instead be diverted on other roads in East Bristol, like Whitehall, Easton^[11] Road, Blackswarth Road and Beaufort Road.

South East route

Bus lane at Bath road in Brislington.

Effectively, this has already been presented as part of the consultation on a plan to create a new road system between Keynsham and Temple Meads. Options include the controversial one of diverting general traffic^[12] down a new A4 road along the old North Somerset^[13] railway line through Brislington^[14], which would free up the existing Bath Road for the mass rapid transit options, or doing the opposite.

South West route

East Street, Bedminster (Image: Paul Gillis/Bristol Post)

The council assessments of two of the ‘all above ground’ options from Bristol Airport into Bedminster and then Temple Meads have been released. One, called SWC05, would see the A38 from the Parson Street gyratory, along Bedminster Road and then West Street, made into a one-way system for general traffic, and then a ‘cut-and-cover’ tunnel in Malago Road and Bedminster Parade.

A different option, called SWC11, would go a completely different route from the Lime Kiln roundabout on the edge of Bristol, and instead create a one-way system of roads through Knowle^[15] down to St Luke’s Road near Victoria Park, which would close to general traffic to make way for the trams or trains.

When will a decision be made?

Earlier this month, Bristol Live revealed that a report to the next WECA meeting^[16], where the future of the ‘Future4West’ mass rapid transit system will be decided, had narrowed down all the possible routes^[17] and options for how they should be built, and costed each one. It concluded that the West of England faced a choice between having a mass rapid transit system that was mostly above ground, but went underground in the inner city areas – which would be more expensive – or an entirely overground system, which would be much more disruptive and also less effective. Both options were achievable, the report concluded.

The three options for each of the four routes ranged in cost, basically depending on how much, if any, of the route would be dug underground. The costs ranged from a few billion pounds if the entire system was above ground, to up to £18 billion if all of it was underground. A hybrid scheme, which would see most of the routes remain above ground, and tunnels used closer to the city centre, was costed at £7-9 billion.

At the meeting next week, the mayors and council leaders from South Gloucestershire^[18], Bath^[19] and North East Somerset and Bristol will be given three choices to choose from. The first choice will be to take forward all the route options for more detailed exploration and assessment. The second choice will be to remove any of the options that involve an underground rail network being created. The third choice will be for the committee itself to choose which of the 11 or 12 options are taken forward.

A proposed tram route at The Arches in Montpelier (Image: Moving Bristol Forward)

Removing all the underground rail network plans is understood to be the metro mayor’s preference – he has repeatedly said Bristol and the West of England won’t have ‘an underground’, because it would cost too much money, and would never get the funding to happen.

But at City Hall, there is concern that the knock-on implications of that have not been properly assessed or appreciated. Having all the routes running along existing roads would mean closures, diversions and one-way systems on all four routes: The north route from Cribbs Causeway and Almondsbury; the east route from Kingswood and Emersons Green; the south east route from Bath and the south west route from Bristol Airport^[20]. The tram or light rail systems would be entirely above ground and have to utilise existing main roads and traffic corridors.

Overall, the report by Bristol City Council’s transport officers questions the disruption to the city by creating an entirely overground mass transport system on key routes. BCC transport officers are understood to prefer a ‘hybrid option’, with fully underground routes in some places where the alternative is closing roads to general traffic above.

“With regards to the hybrid option – a WECA addendum report identifies that costs are 40-50 per cent less than underground routes, with benefits around 60 per cent higher than for overground routes.

“There are no highway disbenefits as main roads are not closed. It also estimates that passenger demand for the hybrid network as a whole would only be around 4 per cent lower than for the underground network so no significant loss of patronage. Journey times are slower than underground as you are above ground more but this doesn’t hugely impact demand,” they added.

‘Go underground or fail’ says mayor

The Mayor of Bristol said the city and the West of England region faced a choice – does it want a 100 per cent segregated mass transit system, and if so, should that replace the regular roads in large parts of the city, or go underneath them?

“There are now two choices if Bristol is to have a segregated mass transport system to transform the way people move around the city,” he said. “Going underground in the densest and most crowded areas or pursuing an alternative overground-only plan that shuts large areas of main roads, some for a few years and some forever.

“The debate you are seeing unfold in the press between Bristol and the region is that stark. It is not as some commentators would contend: a political debate that’s holding us back. In reality, it’s actually a question of ambition for Bristol or more of the same old mediocrity of leadership that our city has historically suffered from. A mass transit system can take many forms – trams, underground, fast segregated buses, light rail – but what defines the term is the ability for people to get on a public transport system that moves people around and is their best alternative for travel. A system that speeds up journeys and in the main is segregated and away from delays.

“Segregation is a key element. If you get on a bus today, some of that journey may be along a specific, speedy bus lane but you also know that you will spend some time in a traffic queue. If you catch a train in Bristol today, you will get traffic free travel but to a limited number of locations. Simply put, the city has no room for many overground train lines, miles more bus lanes, or free space for trams. The decision is stark: go underground or fail again,” he added.

References

1. ^{^} transport (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
2. ^{^} Horfield (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
3. ^{^} Kingswood (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
4. ^{^} Bedminster (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
5. ^{^} Bristol City Council (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
6. ^{^} Report into Bristol underground says it is needed and can be done (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
7. ^{^} Turning Bristol railway line into new road is ‘most ridiculous proposal’ (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
8. ^{^} Marvin Rees (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
9. ^{^} Southmead (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
10. ^{^} Bristol City Centre (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
11. ^{^} Easton (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
12. ^{^} the controversial one of diverting general traffic (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
13. ^{^} North Somerset (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
14. ^{^} Brislington (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
15. ^{^} Knowle (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
16. ^{^} Bristol Live revealed that a report to the next WECA meeting (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
17. ^{^} narrowed down all the possible routes (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
18. ^{^} South Gloucestershire (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
19. ^{^} Bath (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
20. ^{^} Bristol Airport (www.bristolpost.co.uk)