Motorists using the A38 northbound between the Aztec West Roundabout and M5 J16 will have noted further changes to the road layout in recent months. The latest alterations were implemented in June 2018, eight months after a £4.2m scheme of “improvements” on the southbound side of the A38 and on the arms of the Aztec West Roundabout itself was deemed “substantially completed” in October 2017.

South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has refused to accept a widely held view that the original multi-million pound scheme actually worsened peak time traffic delays for the majority of road users in the area, claiming that the latest work constituted “mitigation measures” needed to alleviate issues that were outside the scope of the original work.

When pressed to explain what these additional issues were, SGC officers listed them as:

• Inefficiency of the operation of M5 16, leading to exit blocking, the subsequent knock-on effect causing queuing back to and beyond Aztec West Roundabout.
• The completion of Pinchpoint schemes at M5 J16 in 2015 by both SGC and Highways England failed to maximise potential for improvements to the local network.
• Motorists exiting the Aztec West Business Park in the lane meant for Bradley Stoke Way and turning left rather than using the left filter lane. This resulted in these motorists blocking vehicles travelling from Bradley Stoke Way and the A38 south of the roundabout.
• Traffic turning right from Bradley Stoke Way heading for M5 J16 was frequently observed queueing over the boxed junction on the circulatory. This uses up the capacity for A38 northbound, when A38 northbound is on green only a few vehicles make it through the cycle after all the box queueing traffic has cleared.
• Surveys undertaken in November 2017 and February 2018 showed that the average length of time taken to exit the business park was 21 minutes.

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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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A local councillor has called on the West of England Metro Mayor to step in and sort out traffic congestion around the Aztec West Roundabout, which is widely considered to have worsened significantly for the majority of road users since South Gloucestershire Council spent £4.5m on a road improvement scheme that took 18 months to implement.

Speaking at a Bradley Stoke Town Council committee meeting on 19th February, Cllr Brian Hopkinson said he had raised the matter with metro mayor Tim Bowles and asked him to liaise with SGC’s transport lead Cllr Colin Hunt and other members of the SGC Cabinet.

Relaying the story of a lady who works in Filton and frequently takes one-and-a-half hours to get home to Alveston in the afternoon peak, Cllr Hopkinson said:

“We’ve had so many roadworks, and for so long. Lots of work has been done, at the M5 J16 roundabout as well, and we hoped it would be sorted, but it’s not. It’s absolute rubbish!”

Another town councillor, Ben Randles, described his own experience of long queues forming in the other direction, for traffic coming off the M5 and wishing to turn left into Bradley Stoke. He reported that he had seen numerous “bumper incidents” and added: “For traffic continuing down the A38, it’s fine, but if you’re heading into Bradley Stoke it’s often quicker to pretend you’re turning right to Aztec West and then go all the way round the roundabout.”

More: Massive delays for traffic exiting the Aztec West Business Park »

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The recently completed £4.5 million project to reduce congestion and install pedestrian crossing points at the Aztec West Roundabout has been branded a “complete failure” by one motorist who says the new road layout has added half-an-hour to the time it takes him to exit the Aztec West Business Park each evening.

In an email to the Journal, the commuter, who we have chosen not to name, talks about the “environmental catastrophe” of cars queuing around the entire loop road of the business park and says the issue has seriously affected his quality of life because he no longer gets home in time to see his children before they go to bed.

As previously reported, and corroborated by many other readers, the main issue appears to be the throttling effect of traffic signals at a new pedestrian crossing on the slip road between the business park exit and the A38 northbound.

In an effort to beat the queues, frustrated drivers exiting the business park are using the wrong lanes and then cutting in at the last minute to reach the left filter lane onto the A38. Some of them are even continuing onto the roundabout using the lanes designated for Bradley Stoke and then making a left turn onto the A38, thereby by-passing the troublesome left filter lane. In doing so they cause a hold up that prevents the people in the correct lane from being able to make progress when the lights turn green.

“In short, these road updates have been a complete failure. Occasionally there was traffic like this before the changes, usually for a good reason such as a motorway accident, but it was never for three consecutive days in a row [as experienced in the first week of January] with no incidents in sight,” adds the commuter.

More: Timing of signals at M5 J16 roundabout also an issue »

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