The Bradley Stoke Journal

Representatives of a group campaigning for improved road safety measures on Bradley Stoke Way will tonight (Wednesday 14th) address a meeting of South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) in a debate secured through the Council’s petitions scheme.

Two serious accidents involving school-age children on the stretch of the road near the Willow Brook Centre earlier this year led to a group of concerned parents and residents launching a public petition to force a debate at a meeting of Full Council – through a mechanism enshrined in the South Gloucestershire Petitions Scheme.

Officially launched on Saturday 15th October, two weeks after the second serious accident on the road, the petition soon achieved the 2,500 signatures required to force a debate and the number of supporters has since grown to over 3,900.

The petition called on the Council to install a new ‘raised table’ toucan crossing, replacing the two drop kerb uncontrolled crossing points where the recent accidents have occurred. It also demanded conversion of the dual carriageway stretch of Bradley Stoke Way to a single lane, the introduction of a 30mph speed limit and the installation of improved warning signage and over-speed indicators.

Since the petition was launched, the Council has committed to installing a new toucan crossing between Wheatfield Drive and Savages Wood and extending the 30mph speed limit in a northerly direction so that it includes the new toucan crossing. The 30mph zone will also be extended in a southerly direction south of the Savages Wood Roundabout – to include the existing toucan crossing between Snowberry Close and Champs Sur Marne.

More: Current plans omit speed table and lane reduction »

Discussion is open - 2 comments (view) - click here to respond.

The chances of Bradley Stoke gaining a fast and reliable bus service linking the town with the centre of Bristol have become significantly slimmer following an announcement made by Chancellor George Osborne in last week’s Autumn Statement.

The £97 million North Fringe to Hengrove Bus Rapid Transit Package failed to appear in a list of 20 projects winning a total of £386 million of funding from the Department for Transport, in contrast to two South Bristol schemes which together picked up £61.1 million of Government money.

The North Bristol scheme is now left in the remaining pool of 25 projects, fighting for a residual £244 million that is due to be handed out before the end of the year.

South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council have jointly asked the Government for a £51.1 million contribution to the scheme but the central funding pot is now oversubscribed by 249%, up from 96% before the Autumn Statement.

If the scheme fails to attract Government funding, the bus service aspect of the scheme is likely to be dropped but South Gloucestershire Council would be left to foot the full cost of the Stoke Gifford by-pass, which will still have to be constructed to support the building of 2,000 new homes on land between the Winterbourne Road and the Avon Ring Road (the ‘East of Harry Stoke’ new neighbourhood foreseen in the Council’s Core Strategy).

The by-pass, known officially as the Stoke Gifford Transport Link, will link Great Stoke Way with the Ring Road via a new bridge over the London to Bristol railway line.

More: What the scheme would mean for Bradley Stoke »

A public exhibition in Bradley Stoke later this week will provide more information about a major motorway upgrade scheme that is about to commence on the M4 and M5 near the Almondsbury Interchange.

The £88.6m managed motorway scheme – the first of its kind in the South West – will involve the use of variable mandatory speed limits and use of the hard shoulder as an extra traffic lane to ease congestion.

The scheme will be implemented on the M4 between the top of the M32 and the Almondsbury Interchange and on the M5 between Cribbs Causeway and the Almondsbury Interchange.

Contractor Balfour Beatty  is due to begin mobilisation works next Monday (7th November), which will include the installation of traffic management and site clearance. The hard shoulder will be closed along sections between junction 19 and 20 on the M4 and junctions 15 to 19 on the M5, with three lanes open in both directions. A 50mph speed limit, enforced with average speed safety cameras, will also be in place for the safety of road users and the workforce.

It is expected that construction work will start in full between January and March 2012 (subject to a statutory process being completed), with work due for completion in 2013-14.

The exhibition takes place on Friday 4th November, from 2pm to 8pm, at the Baileys Court Activity Centre, Baileys Court Road [map].

Read more about the scheme and the work involved »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has announced that a range of new measures are to be introduced to improve road safety on Bradley Stoke Way, in the vicinity of the Willow Brook Centre.

The news follows two serious accidents on this stretch of road this year alone, both of which involved children who were using informal crossing points between Savages Wood and the shopping centre.

A public petition for improved road safety measures launched after the most recent incident attracted 2,600 signatures in just six days after it was officially launched by concerned parents and residents on 15th September.

The planned improvements announced today include extending the existing 30mph speed limit zone and constructing a new light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

SGC officers and executive member for planning and transport Brian Allinson met with representatives from local schools on Tuesday 18th October to discuss concerns about road safety at the location and consider options for improvements.

The meeting heard that following the recent serious injury accident on Bradley Stoke Way in September, the council had implemented a number of measures to tackle traffic speed, including introducing additional road signs and markings and requesting police mobile speed enforcement.

Cllr Allinson also announced that a programme of work has now been drawn up to extend the area covered by the existing 30mph speed limit and to change two existing dropped kerb crossing points into one new light-controlled pedestrian crossing.

More: Proposed measures to be discussed at a public meeting on Tuesday 1st November »

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has agreed to draft a proposal for a second toucan crossing on Bradley Stoke Way near the spot where a 13-year-old boy was seriously injured in a traffic accident three weeks ago.

The news is revealed in the latest newsletter of Bradley Stoke Community School (BSCS), where the injured boy is a student in Year 9.

BSCS Headteacher Dave Baker reports that he attended a meeting this week with representatives of SGC, including Cllr Brian Allinson, the Council’s Executive Member for Transport, members of the police force and other local headteachers.

Mr Baker says that the safety of pedestrians crossing Bradley Stoke Way was the only agenda item at the meeting, which was arranged after headteachers, parents and other residents voiced concern that nothing seemed to have been done to improve road safety after an earlier accident at virtually the same location in February.

According to Mr Baker, the Council has agreed to prepare a proposal to:

• Add a second toucan crossing at the crossing point between the entrance to Savages Wood and the entrance to Bradley Stoke Way from Wheatfield Drive
• Reduce the speed limit to 30 mph from just north of the new crossing
• Install railings at the side of the road to discourage people from crossing anywhere other than the two designated crossing areas

More about the proposals that were discussed at the meeting »

A formal petition calling on South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) to implement a series of road safety improvement measures on Bradley Stoke Way is to be officially launched tomorrow (Saturday 15th).

The move comes after an accident on Friday 30th September at a recognised crossing point on the busy road, in which a 13-year-old boy, believed to have been riding a mini-scooter, was in collision with a motorcyclist. The boy suffered serious head, abdomen, arm and leg injuries and was taken to Frenchay Hospital, where he remains in a critical but stable condition. The motorcyclist was also taken to hospital with a broken leg and a broken arm.

A similar accident in February this year, that occurred at an “informal crossing point” just 40m away from the site of the most recent incident, left a 10-year-old cyclist with life changing injuries after he was in collision with a car.

Both of the incidents occurred in the area where Bradley Stoke Way changes from dual to single carriageway, just north of the Willow Brook Centre.

Organised by a group of concerned parents and residents, the petition calls on the Council to install a new ‘raised table’ Toucan crossing, to replace the two drop kerb uncontrolled crossing points where the recent accidents have occurred. The group is also demanding that the dual carriageway stretch of Bradley Stoke Way to be converted to single lane traffic, the introduction of  a 30mph speed limit and the installation of improved warning signage and over-speed indicators.

The petition, which has been running online since Monday 10th October, will be officially launched at the Willow Brook Centre at 12 noon on Saturday. Residents will be given the chance to sign up on the day and will also be able to take away a signature form to allow them to collect further signatures. [A signature form can also be download here]

Under SGC’s Petitions Scheme, if the petition is able to attract 2,500 signatures, the Council will be forced to debate the matter at a meeting of its Full Council.

SGC: Speed monitoring exercise was underway at the time of the second accident »