The Bradley Stoke Journal

South Gloucestershire Council is running a second consultation on its proposed road safety improvements for Bradley Stoke Way, in the vicinity of the Willow Brook Centre.

The latest consultation, which runs until Wednesday 8th February, invites comments on the new toucan crossing that is proposed to replace two uncontrolled crossing points that were the sites of two serious road traffic accidents during 2011.

The new light-controlled crossing will be situated approximately midway between the two existing crossing points and new guardrails will be installed to deter pedestrians from crossing the carriageway away from the new toucan crossing.

There is still no news on the outcome of the first consultation on the overall scheme, which ran from 20th December 2011 to 8th January 2012. The Journal has learned that “seven or eight” responses were received but the Council has so far not found the time to give personal replies or publish an analysis of the results on its website.

Cllr Brian Allinson, SGC’s executive member for planning and transport, said last year that work on the new measures would start in March 2012 but that schedule now appears to have slipped by at least a month, with the Council now saying:

“Depending on the results of the public consultation and advertisement, the scheme is programmed to be designed in this financial year (2011/12) with a view for implementation in 2012/13.”

More: Speed monitoring exercise began on morning of 2nd accident »

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The M4 will be closed westbound between junctions 19 and 22 from 10pm tonight (Thursday 12th January), re-opening at 6am on Friday morning.

The overnight westbound closure will be repeated between the same times on Friday (13th January).

The Highways Agency says the published closure times represent a worst case scenario and the period of closure could be shorter, dependent on traffic levels.

Westbound traffic will be directed onto the M32, leaving at junction 1 and along the A4174 (Avon Ring Road) and A38 (Gloucester Road) to junction 16 of the M5 (Aztec West). Onward traffic will then travel south to M5 junction 18, take the Avonmouth link roads and join the M49 to travel in a northerly direction to rejoin the M4 at junction 22.

The eastbound carriageway will be fully closed between the same junctions on Saturday night (14th January), when the diversionary route will operate in the reverse direction.

The closures are part of an £88.6m project to create a ‘managed motorway’ scheme around the M4/M5 interchange, in which speed limits are dynamically controlled and traffic is permitted to use the hard shoulder at peak times.

Work on the M4 is expected to be completed by December 2012 with the M5 portion of the scheme scheduled for completion in spring 2013.

More info: Impact on your journey (Highways Agency)

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Proposals for a number of road safety improvement schemes around Bradley Stoke achieved limited success when they were discussed at a recent meeting of South Gloucestershire Council’s Southern Brooks Area Forum.

Seven Bradley Stoke schemes were competing for a share of the £50k pot available, along with other proposals from Filton, Patchway, Stoke Gifford and Winterbourne.

In the end, just two of the Bradley Stoke schemes were awarded funding – and only for “investigation” work rather than full implementation:

• Noise and speed reduction measures in Woodlands Lane, near Woodlands Park
• Introduction of a pedestrian crossing on Brook Way near the junction of Elm Close

Each of the above projects was awarded £5k, with the Brook Way proposal being extended to also investigate the possibility of providing a pedestrian crossing facility near the Concord Medical Centre in Braydon Avenue.

Of the eight schemes awarded funding by the area forum, six were given £5k for “investigation” work. The only two projects to receive funding for implementation were in Patchway, where the left turn from the A38 Gloucester Road into Shellmor Road is to be prohibited and a bus stop on the A38 northbound, near the Callicroft Road junction, relocated.

More: No joy for Bradley Stoke 'safer routes to school' plans »

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Residents of Bradley Stoke who live close to the M4 motorway could be affected by overnight roadworks that are due to start on Monday (9th January).

The Highways Agency says it has sent out letters to properties within 500m of the areas where the night-time work is to take place.

The roadworks are the first step in the implementation of the Agency’s £88.6 million M4/M5 Managed Motorway scheme that will see hard shoulder running introduced at peak times on the M4 (between the top of the M32 and the Almondsbury Interchange) and the M5 (between Cribbs Causeway and the Almondsbury Interchange) from early 2013.

This month’s overnight works, which are expected to run until 23rd January, are necessary for the installation of a temporary safety barrier along the M4 (in both directions). They will involve road planing, re-surfacing and the introduction of narrower running lanes.

The Agency says it will try to complete the noisy road planing operations by 11pm each night, with re-surfacing work continuing thereafter.

Daytime operations during January will include the installation of temporary cable ducting along the affected sections of the M4 and M5 and vegetation clearance on the M5 – in areas where gantries are to be installed or emergency refuge areas created.

Read on for information about the scheme and its local impact »

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South Gloucestershire Council is inviting residents to have their say on a number of proposed casualty reduction measures on Bradley Stoke Way, in the vicinity of the Willow Brook Centre.

The consultation comes after two school-age children were seriously injured in separate traffic accidents along this stretch of road earlier this year.

A public petition for improved safety measures on the road, started after the second incident (in September), was signed by more than 3,900 people and resulted in the issue being debated at a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council last week.

A meeting in October attended by the Council’s transport chief, Council officers, local Councillors, local police and headteachers of local schools outlined a number of proposed safety measures for the road and these have now been formalised in the plans that are the focus of the current consultation.

The main component of the proposed scheme is the provision of a new signal-controlled (toucan) pedestrian crossing on Bradley Stoke Way, close to the pedestrian access point from Wheatfield Drive. This new crossing will replace the two existing uncontrolled crossing points where the recent accidents occurred.

The proposals also include an extension of the existing 30mph speed limit northwards by 260m, so that it includes the new crossing. It is also proposed that the 30mph limit be extended south of the Savages Wood Roundabout to include the existing toucan crossing between Snowberry Close and Champs Sur Marne.

More: New northbound bus lane to be introduced »

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A major transport scheme that includes the building of a Stoke Gifford by-pass and the introduction of a fast and reliable bus service between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre has taken a big step forward with the award of £51 million of Government funding.

Work on the £102 million North Fringe to Hengrove Package, which will also be funded by Bristol City Council (BCC) and South Gloucestershire Council (SGC), is scheduled to start in two years time, subject to successfully overcoming regulatory hurdles that are expected to include a public inquiry.

The Stoke Gifford by-pass, running from the Parkway North Roundabout on Great Stoke Way to the Avon Ring Road (emerging opposite the Holiday Inn), will provide Bradley Stoke motorists with a more direct route to junction 1 of the M32 at Hambrook, avoiding the notorious bottlenecks at the Parkway Station railway bridge and the Abbey Wood Roundabout.

Public transport users will benefit from a new bus-only junction onto the M32, where Stoke Lane crosses over the motorway, close to the Dower House.

Within Bradley Stoke, a number of new bus lanes will be constructed along Bradley Stoke Way – without reducing the number of lanes available for general traffic. For more details, take a look at The Journal’s interactive map of the rapid transit route or consult the detailed route plans [PDF, 63.7MB] submitted with the official bid to the Department for Transport (DfT).

Statutory orders for the scheme are due to be published by June next year and a public inquiry could start in December 2012. On-site work is scheduled to start in December 2013 and the new by-pass and ‘rapid’ bus service should be open/operational by December 2016.

More: South Glos Council chooses not to publish funding plans »

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