South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has revealed that it is considering a range of “mitigation measures” to address the widely held view that a recent £4.2m scheme of “improvements” on the southbound A38 near Aztec West has worsened peak time traffic congestion for the majority of road users in the area.

The latest development came just days after one local councillor said he had raised the issue with West of England metro mayor Tim Bowles and asked him to speak to members of SGC’s Cabinet.

Pressure is also being applied to Highways England (HE), which has responsibility for the roundabout at the neighbouring M5 J16 roundabout, asking it to liaise with SGC over the lack of synchronisation between traffic signals there and at the Aztec West Roundabout.

In a letter sent by Bradley Stoke Town Council to HE, mayor Andy Ward referred to “an issue with the sequencing which causes congestion when traffic leaving the Motorway attempts to integrate with the Aztec West roundabout approach road network”. He went on to write: “The traffic in the local area has worsened significantly since the recent improvements were made. Our residents are understandably frustrated having endured many years of roadworks in and around the town only to find that, once completed, the promised improvements have not materialised and in fact the opposite is the case and congestion has significantly worsened.”

Speaking at a BSTC meeting on 14th March, Cllr Brian Hopkinson reported that SGC is “considering taking over responsibility for the M5 Junction 16 traffic lights from Highways England,” although it was noted that there were financial issues which would need to be addressed before this could be done.

More: "Mitigation measures to … assist in alleviating the current issues" »

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Staff and children at Wheatfield Primary School held a series of events throughout the week leading up to Sports Relief on Friday 23rd March. This included hula hooping, penalty shoot outs, Zumba classes and the whole school taking part in a one-mile run around Bradley Stoke.

On the actual day, staff at the school challenged some of the parents to a netball match – competition was fierce with the parents coming out on top by a wide margin. Parents were asked to send in donations for children completing all of the challenges and tea and cakes were on sale for spectators of the netball match to raise money for the event.

Bowsland Green Primary School went Sport Relief crazy by taking part in lots of challenges. The children created ‘wake and shake’ routines, took part in a danceathon and walked a mile during Sport Relief week.

As well as this, some of the teachers at Bowsland Green decided to complete a 24-hour football challenge. Mr Stephenson, Mr Young and Mr Thomas (left to right in photo below) started playing football at 4pm on Thursday 22nd March and finished at 4pm on Friday 23rd March. They stayed on the school grounds for the whole 24 hours, playing matches, learning new tricks and by keeping the ball at their feet. During the event, both staff and students supported them by joining in and encouraging them to continue.

Sponsorship money is still coming in, but it is hoped that the event will raise at least £750.

Photos: 1 Teachers’ and parents’ teams prior to the start of the netball match at Wheatfield. 2 Teachers and pupils prior to the start of the 24-hour football challenge at Bowsland Green.

More photos on the BSJ Facebook page

• Wheatfield teachers .v. parents netball match
• Bowsland Green football challenge

This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 3). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,200 homes in Bradley Stoke and Little Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

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This month, the West of England Councils’ MetroBus team were unable to provide any specific news relating to services through Bradley Stoke, but they have kindly provided this update on what is happening across the wider MetroBus project.

The three-route 50km MetroBus network is due to be operational in the spring – starting with the M3 service running from Emersons Green via UWE to the city centre. The Bromley Heath Viaduct works need to be completed first – currently their end date is the end of April. The other routes will start afterwards.

As MetroBus is ‘buy before you board for faster services’, the information and ticketing points have had to be developed. This will make MetroBus the only service outside London where you have to pay before you board – significantly reducing delays.

The introduction of a Travelwest smartcard, use of mobile phone apps, existing concessionary cards and top ups online from the travelwest.info website have all had to be incorporated into the system. This week, the first iPoint at Long Ashton Park & Ride was switched on, and the team are checking and testing that it all works as it should – the 1,000th and 10,000th ticket is as important as the first. The iPoints along the M3 route will be put in place soon.

MetroBus has already made positive changes to the way people are moving around:

• The new city centre arrangement is allowing traffic to flow more freely, with savings of six to seven minutes from the bottom of the M32 to the harbourside at some times of the day
• Over 60 buses have had their timetables revised as they are now running faster and more reliably
• The new bus lanes in other areas are allowing all buses to keep to time and avoid hold-ups
• The new bridge at Bathurst Basin is safer for pedestrians and has improved traffic flows
• In south Bristol, traffic has been removed from unsuitable residential roads and there are easier and quicker links for businesses to the main roads

MetroBus is another piece in the jigsaw helping to tackle congestion, improve air quality and provide a rapid and reliable choice for people who need to travel longer distances by public transport.

• More information: MetroBus (Travelwest)

Photo: The first MetroBus iPoint was powered up at Long Ashton Park & Ride during the third week of March.

This article originally appeared in the April 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 31). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,200 homes in Bradley Stoke and Little Stoke. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.

Update: Services on the M3 route will start on 29th May 2018 »

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Buses on the 73 route through Bradley Stoke are set to become less polluting, thanks to a £2.2 million grant from the government’s Clean Bus Technology Fund.

The route is one of 12 across Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire that will benefit from the award which will allow operator First Bus to cut emissions and help improve air quality across the wider region.

The funding was awarded in February by the Department for Transport following a successful joint bid by Bristol City Council, South Gloucestershire Council and Bath and North East Somerset Council.

Cllr Mhairi Threlfall, Cabinet member for transport at Bristol City Council, who led the bid, said:

“It is great news that we have been successful in our bid for this funding, which will help us to improve air quality across the region by making vital environmental upgrades to the bus fleet.”

“We will be prioritising these upgrades on the bus routes that we know to be the most polluted with levels of harmful air pollutants that are far too high.”

“This will form part of our continuing efforts to turn around the issues with air quality in our area and make Bristol a healthier place to live and work. I look forward to seeing this new technology being brought into action over the next year.”

The money will be used to retrofit emissions reductions technology on 81 buses that run on these 12 routes, which cover some of the most polluted roads on the wider network.

More: EV/hybrid engines to be fitted in 12 buses »

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