The Bradley Stoke Journal

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »

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 »