Cars to be banned from parts of Bristol city centre in major boost for cycling and walking
Bristol City Council has announced plans to encourage cycling and walking during and after the coronavirus lockdown by restricting access for cars to certain parts of the city centre.
The announcement was welcomed by cycling campaigners and the local Green Party. Group leader Councillor Eleanor Combley says it was crucial that work begins as soon as possible but that more action is needed to save the environment.
Bristol mayor Marvin Rees announced on Wednesday that proposals were being “accelerated” to pedestrianise the Old City, stop general traffic using Bristol Bridge and Baldwin Street and boost walking and cycling at high streets across the city.
The Mayor said the Old City pedestrianisation is expected to happen in late summer this year, but measures to widen pavements across the city would be implemented in a few weeks.
Rees revealed water-filled bollards instead of those made of concrete – which he called “one of the filthiest industries on the planet” – would be used to prevent access for cars.
It comes after the government announced a £250million boost for local authorities in England to improve transport infrastructure following calls for pavements to be widened both during and after the coronavirus lockdown, including from opposition Greens on the city council.
There was a protest earlier this week about giving cyclists enough space on the roads to be able to stick to social distancing while commuting to work.
Cllr Combley said: “I am delighted that the administration has taken on some of the proposals we’ve been calling for to enable social distancing and keep people in Bristol safe.
“As cars begin to return to the streets and public transport faces restrictions, it will be crucial to start work on these as soon as possible to save lives – and we will need to keep a close eye on timescales and delivery to make sure this actually happens.
“And of course more action will be needed to provide Bristolians all around the city with safer streets and breathable air and make up for the inaction of the last four years.
“But for now this is a significant first step worth celebrating for all of us who have campaigned on this issue, the organisations and the many Bristol residents who have been contacting their councillors.”
Speaking at a fortnightly media briefing yesterday, the Mayor said experimental traffic orders lasting between six months and two years would be used to gauge whether the road closures were successful and to get residents’ and businesses’ feedback.
Among the plans to be implemented by late summer are a bus priority route on Bristol Bridge, vehicle restrictions in the Old City area during core business hours and new sustainable transport, walking and cycling routes.
Pavements will be widened for local shopping across the city, including Bedminster Parade, Stapleton Road, St Marks Road and Clifton Village.
Rees said: “With the Government promising to release money for infrastructure development we have an opportunity to look at our transport infrastructure.
“Because of the funds being promised now, this is something we are able to accelerate.
“We anticipate that of the £250million announced, we should as a region get about £4million, and in the city centre we anticipate getting a chunk of that.
“It is a real hot-point for congestion and has a dense working area where people need to be social distancing.
“We want the whole region to benefit but we would expect to get an amount that is appropriate to the scale of challenge we face.”
The Mayor also called for government investment in a mass transit system for Bristol.
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Unfortunately this will make me shop out side of Bristol,we moved from Bristol when we had young children to southglos.We have not use public transport and will not,it takes to long.
These are long overdue changes to the infrastructure, and I hope it is just the beginning. Much more can be done. Being able to walk and cycle safely around a city is one of the very basics to make it livable.
If you live close enough to walk or cycle then you would anyway, goverment advise is to not use public transport thus more people using a car – marvin rees ‘lets make it more difficult to use your car’ makes no sense at all.
As for blaming corona virus is a complete cop out. Cyclist panting and sweating all over what ever shop they go in? Ridiculous excuse. If youre going into town to buy something, who takes a bike!? Just as the highstreet needs all the support it can get, another hurdle for consumers to jump over.
Most people who work in town cycle or walk because there is no where to park anyway, so its not for their benefit.
The man has no idea of how to run a city or organise public transport in the slightest. Look no further then the metro bus!
Will disabled access be considered? Will blue badge holders have access to the taxi only areas? Disabled parking near to pedestrianised area?
All this talk… then you look at the proposal map and it turns out to be a small handful of streets – the only one of which that has any appreciable amount of traffic being Baldwin Street, which they’re not even fully pedestrianising.
Do you drive? Closing those two streets and without changing existing one way systems, that entire area is effectively closed to anything but public transport. Awesome, until you need to take away some servers or UPS batteries for repair…I doubt anything sensible will be put in place to mitigate that issue.
Hmmm… Not sure closure of two streets really constitutes a “major boost”. When we have people dying from poor Air pollution, this needs to be simply the start of a wider shift towards a city that works for people, not just cars…
Best thing to do is avoid all the shops and businesses in Broadmead and go to the Mall no restrictions no parking charges and you haven’t got to walk 2 miles with shopping to your car! As many shops there as they have in Broadmead and the council have done this to Bristol!