Final week to have your say on proposed changes to Bedminster Bridges

Bristol city centre is set to change in the coming years, with major new housing developments and leisure and retail facilities planned. This will help the city tackle its housing crisis and sustain the vitality of the central area. This includes locally within Bedminster Green and Whitehouse Street regeneration areas.

The Bedminster Bridges proposals would improve walking, wheeling and cycling routes, benefit existing bus services, and support the long-term goal to create a segregated rapid transit route from the southwest to the northeast of the city.

The council is at the early stage of designing the plans and we need your views to make sure the designs are fit for purpose.

The consultation closes on 30 September 2024.

 

Bedminster Bridges

A series of changes are proposed to the Bedminster Bridges Roundabout, including East Street, Bedminster Parade and Redcliffe Hill.

The proposals include:

• removing the roundabout and instead making each bridge two-way: one for buses only and one for general traffic
• buses and cycles would be able to use separate, segregated lanes, which are safer and would mean they are not delayed by other traffic
• pedestrians would benefit from quicker crossings over the road and more space on the pavement
• high-quality material would be used to reinforce the important gateway from Bedminster, Southville and all of south Bristol to the city centre

Additional changes include:

• introducing dedicated bus-only lanes, separate from other traffic
• installing segregated cycle routes through the area that join up to existing routes
• rationalising the number of pedestrian crossings, meaning pedestrians would only need to cross two roads to get north-south instead of four
• improving the public realm, using higher-quality materials and refreshing planting areas
• removing Redcliffe Hill underpass and creating new public spaces in these areas
• improving the existing cycle route over Redcliffe Hill
• increasing the width of the pavement along the west side of Bedminster Parade
• planting new trees – a small number of trees will need to be removed to make way for the new layout, but these would be replaced and even more would be planted
• improving drainage in the area
• replacing the out-of-date traffic signalling equipment
• changing loading arrangements in some areas
• changing some general traffic movements to allow improvements for bus, cycle, and pedestrian routes

This consultation is the first step in a three-year project to transform Bristol city centre. Once the responses to the survey have been analysed, we will publish a report that summarises the feedback. This will inform how the plans for the project are progressed and what changes are needed. More information can be found here.