A4174 Ring Road warning as Bristol drivers set for four days of …

Four days of roadworks are scheduled on the A4174 Ring Road from today (Monday, October 23). Emergency work is being carried out to repair a fault at the Hambrook lights, South Gloucestershire ^[1] Council has warned.

The lights will be switched off while the work is carried out and there will be no right turn out of Bristol Road. A diversion will be put in place to divert all traffic to turn left and go around Bromley Heath roundabout, as detailed in the map below.

The council's Street Care team shared a notice on its Facebook ^[2] page to add that there will be facilities in place for pedestrians to cross the A4174 with a temporary crossing. It apologised for any delays which may result from the works.

(Image: South Gloucestershire Council Street Care)

The stretch of road is already a controversial subject for local motorists, following the changes made back in 2019 which were initially part of an Experimental Traffic Order ^[5], which went from being a trial to a more permanent fixture. The changes meant that there was no longer a right turn onto the A4174 ring road (eastbound) from the B4058 (Bristol Road northbound) and no 'straight ahead' onto the B4058 (Bristol Road).

Instead, an extended left turn lane was put in place to create two left turn traffic lanes for all traffic. It means that those coming from this direction now have to go all around the M32 roundabout and back towards the Hambrook lights if they wish to join the A4174 towards Bromley Heath and Emersons Green, or turn left onto the B4058.

These changes are something that many local drivers would like to see reverted. Taking to the comments section, one person said: "Put it back to how it was when the road worked," while a second echoed: "Why can't they just put it back to how it used to be when you can turn right at the lights instead of going all the way round the roundabout. It's just silly."

References

^{^} South Gloucestershire (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^{^} Facebook (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^{^} Disruption to Bristol train services will last until 'at least midday tomorrow' (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^{^} M4 emergency repairs after serious lorry crash near Bristol (www.bristolpost.co.uk)
^{^} the changes made back in 2019 which were initially part of an Experimental Traffic Order (beta.southglos.gov.uk)