MetroBus contractor Alun Griffiths and South Gloucestershire Council say they are on schedule to have the junction of Woodlands Lane with Bradley Stoke Way fully reopened by the end of February, subject to weather conditions allowing resurfacing operations to be completed as planned.
The Woodlands Lane junction was closed to all traffic on 2nd September 2015, for an estimated 18 weeks, but problems with uncharted and incorrectly charted gas and water mains have delayed work in the area. The ‘left turn in’ reopened on 26th February 2016 and the ‘left turn out’ on 31st May 2016, but the critical ‘right turn in’ and ‘right turn out’ movements are currently still unavailable 74 weeks after the original closure.
A series of overnight (8pm to 5am) closures of Bradley Stoke Way for resurfacing work, anticipated to span a period of three to four weeks, began on Wednesday 18th January. Initially, the closures have been ‘westbound only’ between Patchway Brook Roundabout (near Aldi) and the Aztec West Roundabout, but as we went to print we were informed that they were expected to be changed to ‘eastbound only’ from the beginning of February. [For the latest news, see our dedicated MetroBus Build page.]
Further overnight closures of the eastbound carriageway between the Woodlands Lane junction and Patchway Brook Roundabout are expected to be required during the week commencing Monday 6th February. Details of these will be announced on the Bradley Stoke Journal website and on the Alun Griffith’s community website.
A full weekend closure between the Woodlands Lane junction and Patchway Brook Roundabout had previously been on the cards, but this will now only be required if overnight work is disrupted by the weather.
Work on traffic signals at both the Woodland Lane and Orchard Gate junctions will take place over the same period as the resurfacing work.
Overnight works are being carried out between 8pm and 5am (approx.) with a target to complete the most noisy operations by 11pm. However, Griffiths warn that noise levels will still be noticeable throughout the night due to “vibration, warning beepers and moving plant”.
Despite Griffiths restricting much of their current work to off-peak and overnight times, several Journal readers reported increased peak-time congestion from Tuesday 24th January. This appeared to result from changes in the sequencing of the traffic lights at the Bradley Stoke Way entry onto the Aztec West Roundabout. In response to an enquiry from the Journal, a MetroBus spokesperson explained (on 26th January):
“We removed the loops that control the traffic lights on the approach to Aztec West in order for us to surface the westbound carriageway on Bradley Stoke Way. Therefore, the traffic signals are working on 14-day-old data rather than real time. The loops will be fully replaced by next week to enable South Gloucestershire Council’s signals department to connect them back onto the system and get real time data for the traffic flows. At that point everything should be back to normal.”
Work to complete the bus lane and MetroBus stop on the A38 south of the Aztec West Roundabout is due to recommence once the resurfacing of Bradley Stoke Way has been completed This is expected to take around eight weeks to complete, followed by surfacing, signalisation and bus shelter installation/connection.
Work to build a new southbound bus lane at the southern end of Bradley Stoke Way, on the approach to Great Stoke (Rabbit) Roundabout, has been brought forward two weeks and will now start mid/end February and take three months to complete. Here, Griffiths say they will need to implement traffic light control (off-peak-only) for a period of two to three weeks whilst digging works are carried out to create space for the new lane. Thereafter, two-way traffic will be maintained at all times through the use of narrow lanes.
• Contact the Griffiths MetroBus team on 08458 622327 or email metrobus@alungriffiths.co.uk
Photos: 1 Closure of Woodlands Lane was originally planned to be for an estimated 18 weeks. 2 Overnight resurfacing work on Bradley Stoke Way, near the Woodlands Lane junction,
This article originally appeared in the February 2017 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on pages 6 & 7). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.
We have been informed that the Woodlands Lane junction on Bradley Stoke Way is now FULLY REOPENED.
A spokesperson for MetroBus contractors Alun Griffiths said: “Woodlands Lane traffic lights have been commissioned today by South Gloucestershire Council and are now operating and fully functional including full right turn into and out of Woodlands Lane. Orchard Gate lights are also being commissioned and it is anticipated these will also be fully functional this week. This is ahead of the programme predicted for completion at the end of February.”