The Bradley Stoke Journal

Local bus operator First Group has announced further cuts to services between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre.

The 73 service, which currently runs every 12 minutes during off-peak day time hours from Monday to Saturday, will operate at a reduced frequency of every 15 minutes from Monday 8th February.

The company says it is making the changes to “improve punctuality”.

Other changes on the route will see a few extra early morning journeys serving Cribbs Causeway.

The latest cut back follows the axing of the 74 and 74X services in February last year, which led to then Bradley Stoke Mayor Robert Jones describing the bus company’s actions as “death by a thousand cuts”.

The announcement is accompanied by a rare piece of good news for bus travellers: some multi-journey tickets are to become slightly cheaper. For example, the price of a First Day Adult Peak ticket will be reduced from £4.30 to £4 from Sunday 7th February.

Related link:

• Bus Services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

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A scheme to add a bus lane on the northbound carriageway of the A38 between Little Stoke and the Aztec West Roundabout has been amended after a public consultation.

The scheme, first announced by South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) in September, replaced an earlier proposal for a more comprehensive system of new bus and general traffic lanes on roads leading off the Aztec West Roundabout.

That earlier plan was abandoned after First Group changed the route of its 73 service so that it no longer entered the Aztec West Business Park.

The new scheme foresees the creation of a new bus lane (with no reduction in the number of general traffic lanes) on the A38 between the Little Stoke junction (near the Texaco filling station) and the Aztec West Roundabout.

The public consultation attracted 32 responses from individuals and business. The council says it also received two petitions opposing the scheme from residents and businesses in the Patchway and Bradley Stoke areas, containing a combined total of over 300 signatures.

Residents of properties along the A38 said they were concerned about the loss of the existing service lane, which they say helps them to merge into the traffic flow on the main road. They also complained about the loss of parking space and pointed out that customers of the Ambourne House Nursery would no longer be able to queue in the service lane whilst waiting to enter the premises.

The council says that it has now revised its plans following the public feedback:

• The bus lane will operate at peak hours only (7.30am – 9.30am and 4.00pm – 7.00pm)
• Residents will be allowed to pick up and set down passengers while the bus lane is in operation
• A bus lay-by made redundant by the scheme will converted to a limited waiting bay, primarily to serve as an overspill car park for the Ambourne House Nursery

The Journal Comments

While the proposed changes will undoubtedly speed bus journeys between Bristol and Aztec West (and beyond to Thornbury), they will bring little benefit for the residents of Bradley Stoke. It is therefore wrong for the council to present this scheme as a replacement for the earlier Aztec West bus lane scheme, which included two new general traffic lanes on Bradley Stoke Way between the Aztec West Roundabout and Woodlands Lane.

Those new general traffic lanes would have helped ease the notorious traffic congestion that occurs between Woodlands Lane and the Aztec West Roundabout.

SGC has failed to respond to The Journal’s request for an official  statement on the status of the original Bradley Stoke Way plans, but a council representative manning the recent North Fringe Rapid Transit exhibition at Bradley Stoke Leisure Centre inferred that the original scheme has indeed been superseded by the rapid transit plans.

The bus rapid transit system, which is subject to government funding and will not be built before 2013/2014, will see two dedicated bus lanes running between the Aztec West Business Park and Bristol city centre. Regrettably, there is currently no suggestion that this scheme will include any improvements for general traffic flow on Bradley Stoke Way.

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Staff from South Gloucestershire Council will be manning an exhibition of proposals for a bus rapid transit system in Bradley Stoke this weekend.

The exhibition, part of the public consultation on the “North Fringe to Hengrove Packge”, takes place tomorrow (Saturday 5th December)  between 9am and 12 noon at Bradley Stoke Library.

Information published on the website of the West of England Partnership website suggests that a dedicated rapid transit bus lane could be constructed along the full length of Bradley Stoke Way:

In Bradley Stoke, it is likely that the rapid transit would make use of the land reservations already in place along Bradley Stoke Way.

The statement is believed to refer to the strip of undeveloped land along the north-east side of the road that was previously foreseen for a tram system – until a spat between South Gloucestershire Council and Bristol City Council put an end to the plans some years ago.

Related link: North Fringe Rapid Transport (The Journal)

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South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) has opened a public consultation on plans for a major new road transport scheme that will link Bradley Stoke with Bristol city centre.

The scheme, known as the North Fringe to Hengrove Package, includes provision of bus rapid transit services, the construction of a new link road between Stoke Gifford and the A4174 Avon Ring Road (close to junction 1 of the M32 at Hambrook) and a new Park & Ride facility beside the M32 (close to the Coldharbour Lane bridge).

“In principle” funding of £168 million was approved by the government in July and the next step will be the submission of a Major Scheme Business Case to the Department for Transport (DfT) by March 2010. If the scheme is approved, implementation could start in 2013/2014 – according to the West of England Partnership (WoEP), which is fronting the bid on behalf of SGC and Bristol City Council.

Rapid transport is described as a fast, frequent and reliable public transport service provided by buses running, where possible, on traffic-free routes – sometimes on and sometimes off existing roads. Journey times will be reduced by requiring tickets  to be purchased prior to boarding and giving buses priority over other road users at traffic lights.

The long-awaited Stoke Gifford Transport Link, which will combine a bus rapid transit route with a regular road, is intended to relieve the current congestion around Bristol Parkway station. The route will start from Great Stoke Way in Stoke Gifford, running initially behind houses in Kings Drive.  A new bridge will be constructed to carry the link over the Bristol to London railway line, east of Bristol Parkway station.

Maps included in the consultation documents show the bus rapid transit route starting on the Aztec West Business Park and then following the full length of Bradley Stoke Way before using the new Stoke Gifford Transport Link to reach the Avon Ring Road. Buses will then head for the University of the West of England (UWE) campus on Coldharbour Lane before joining the M32 at the new Park & Ride.

Proposed stops along Bradley Stoke Way include Woodlands Lane, Patchway Brook Roundabout, the Willow Brook Centre, Webbs Wood Roundabout and Baileys Court Roundabout.

SGC is staging a number of unstaffed public exhibitions to allow residents to learn more about the proposals. Local venues are:

• From Monday 30th November to Friday 4th December at the Aztec West Centre
• From Monday 30th November to Monday 7th December at the Willow Brook Centre

A staffed exhibition is also being staged at Bradley Stoke Library on Saturday 5th December, from 9am to 12 noon.

The consultation period runs until Friday 8th January 2010.

Related links:

• North Fringe to Hengrove Package consultation (SGC)
• North Fridge Rapid Transit (The Journal)
• North Fringe to Hengrove Package (WoEP)

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First Group has announced that the route of the limited stop X73 bus service between Bradley Stoke and Bristol city centre has been extended to Stoke Lodge. The changes come into effect today (Monday 29th September).

The service previously started and finished at Woodlands Lane in Bradley Stoke but has now been extended to the Gloucester Road (A38) stop in Stoke Lodge.

The route is also changing to operate along Brierly Furlong and New Road near Parkway Station to allow buses to take advantage of the new bus link from New Road to Brierly Furlong.

Minor changes to the timetable have also been introduced, which First says will “improve reliability and punctuality” and “see buses departing more evenly”.

The X73 buses run at peak hours on work days only (no service on Saturdays, Sundays or Bank Holidays). Timetabled journey times between central Bradley Stoke (Kemperleye Way North) and Bristol city centre range from 29 to 38 minutes.

Related links:

• Bus Services in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)

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