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www.bradleystokejournal.co.uk Great Stoke Roundabout Improvements Progress report from SGC (20th January 2020) Since work started on site on 2nd January… We have moved several lighting columns along the footpath on Bradley Stoke Way, aligning them with a new footpath to make space for an extra road lane. We have also been laying tarmac in the centre of the road at the Bradley Stoke Way junction with the roundabout to accommodate the narrow lanes which will soon be in place on Bradley Stoke Way while we undertake the rest of the improvement works at the roundabout. We have started construction on both the northbound and southbound carriageways which will lead to increasing the number of lanes from two to three. This does mean the bus lane has been partially suspended to enable us to safely construct the additional lanes. The footpath here is also temporarily closed and a signed diversion route is in place. We will be removing over 200 tonnes of material from the verge on the northbound exit of the roundabout onto Bradley Stoke Way to make space for the improvements. The excavated soil from Great Stoke will be processed and re-used. Temporary pedestrian crossing signals are now in place on the B4057 Winterbourne Road west of the roundabout. Work in February will continue on Bradley Stoke Way and include: • Removing existing kerb lines and grass verges to widen the road • Reconstruction of an underground BT chamber • Establishing the power supplies for the new traffic signals • Installing underground infrastructure for the new traffic signals
Member Awarded Funding
Up to £3,000 from our Member Awarded Funding scheme is available for community projects from local councillors before March 2020 www.southglos.gov.uk/MAF
t: 01454 300 400
February 2020
News
Bus boss critical of roadworks planning
T
he managing director of the bus company responsible for running the M1 MetroBus service has singled out the recently commenced roadworks at Great Stoke (Rabbit) Roundabout as an example of long-term infrastructure works that have been planned with insufficient consideration being given to maintaining public transport flows. James Freeman, MD of First West of England, made the reference in an open letter on the effect that traffic congestion is having on bus services across Greater Bristol, but particularly in the so-called North Fringe. What seems to have made Mr Freeman particularly annoyed is that his company had just introduced additional peak-hours capacity on the M1 service to cope with increasing demand from passengers in the Bradley Stoke and Stoke Gifford areas increasing the number of seats per hour from 450 to 600. However, the day after the extra journeys were added to the timetable, South Gloucestershire Council closed the bus lane on the approach to Great Stoke Roundabout and introduced flow-throttling narrow lanes for general traffic. Not only has this introduced delays of up to 40min on each journey through Bradley Stoke in the morning peak as the M1
James Freeman of First Bus
buses sit in traffic between the Willow Brook Centre and Rabbit Roundabout, it has also “totally disrupted the rest of the service straight through the morning, all the way to the very south of the city”.
Poor communication
Expanding on his statements in an interview with the Journal, Mr Freeman conceded that First was made aware of the upcoming roadworks, although he claims SGC failed to properly communicate the scale of the works and their likely effect on bus services. Elsewhere in the North Fringe, traffic congestion on the A4174 Ring Road is having a severe impact on the reliability of the M3 MetroBus service. Here, Mr Freeman says there is a need to have dedicated bus lanes in both directions “all the way round to Keynsham”, doing away with
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