Stretch of bus lane to be removed by council
PART of a bus lane is set to be removed after motorists complained that its introduction had caused heavy congestion on a major route into Bristol.
Bristol City Council has announced it will remove a stretch of bus lane in Westbury Road and reinstate two lanes for traffic.
The authority has acted after residents and councillors protested against the introduction of the lane, which they claimed caused traffic congestion between White Tree roundabout and Black Boy Hill in Clifton.
The protests were led by Simon Brookes, 61, of Westbury-on-Trym, who became incensed at the queues building up after the installation of the bus lane in February.
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Mr Brookes was supported by residents as well as his Conservative ward councillors Alastair Watson and Geoff Gollop and Bristol North West MP Charlotte Leslie.
His group, calling itself This Bus Lane is Madness, claimed the city council had refused to admit there was a problem.
But Tim Kent, city councillor responsible for transport, did concede in July that congestion had become worse after the introduction of the lane.
Work will start within the next few weeks to reinstate the original layout in Westbury Road at the junction with the White Tree roundabout, to ease traffic flow in the area.
The inbound bus lane will be shortened to increase the length of road with two lanes on the approach to the roundabout.
Mr Kent said: "There have been some discussions about traffic flow on this section of Westbury Road. We've looked at the layout carefully and what we propose now is a further improvement.
"Not only will it reinstate the two-lane approach to the roundabout for motorists to help traffic flow, with the previous lane markings reinstated, it will in fact slightly increase the capacity compared to previous levels. It is important to remember that this inbound stretch of road was always just one lane prior to the immediate approach to the roundabout.
"The new additional bus lane was created from the outbound section of the road, using a redundant right-turn lane for Henleaze Road.
The shortened bus lane will continue to run, speeding up journeys for bus passengers coming into Bristol.
"We believe that this will improve the situation along Westbury Road but this area around the Downs will continue to experience traffic problems because of the extensive works by Bristol Water as part of their £22 million Bristol Resilience Scheme. This is currently taking place on North View but will cross Westbury Road over the next few weeks, before then extending to Upper Belgrave Road."
Among campaigners who fought for the changes were Tory mayoral candidate Geoff Gollop and Bristol North West Tory MP Charlotte Leslie. Mr Gollop said: "This bus lane highlights waste of public money – a bus lane that no one wanted, installed at great cost, followed by more expense to put it right, ending up with a more dangerous road than we started with."
Ms Leslie said: "In a so-called attempt to reduce congestion and free up buses, we had the farcical situation in which buses themselves were being caught up in the congestion and would sit idle for long periods before they even reached the bus lane."
Comments
by lcjones73
Sunday, October 21 2012, 11:39AM
“Unbelievably short-sighted behaviour to reinstate the road. If the lazy *******s that insist on getting in their cars for absolutely every single possible conceivable journey they make, no matter how short, and maybe walked or cycled once in a while (I don't expect them to catch the bus on the basis that Bristol's bus service is appallingly bad), they wouldn't get stuck in the traffic that they create. I'm fairly certain the plan would have been to extend the bus lane further back until there was a single clear run for the buses, so that they wouldn't get stuck in a tailback caused by all the lazy selfish motorists. But no-one was prepared to give that a chance of happening. So here we are back to all the motorists getting what they want so that they can sit and pollute the atmosphere, get fat, get no exercise, over-run Bristol with traffic, and cause danger to other road users like cyclists and pedestrians. All because of a bunch of small-minded short-term thinking politicians.”
by DennisB2012
Saturday, October 06 2012, 9:52PM
“Has anyone thought to assessed how far the current circumstances may actually relate to the virtual closure of North View (due to building work that residents wanted to replace a nasty hole left by the removal of a former garage and road works related to the new water main) and the need to re-route much of the traffic, including buses.
I still find it amazing that Bristol frequently appears to want everything to improve and yet nothing to change. Much of the time, improvements DO require people to alter their behaviour. But Bristol often appears to reply "Okay, but not me".
Remember also that Executive Members do not have the same expertise as the specialist officers who advise them - and nor do most of the residents. Refusing to alter ones habits guarantees change and improvement will not happen.
Does Bristol really want to be led by those Councillors who wanted to return to the "no change" situation? Surely stagnation is NOT an option!! Things have to be tried - and if residents chose to opt for the same old ways, then nothing will ever alter...... or improve!”
by DM_Fishponds
Saturday, October 06 2012, 6:31PM
“It's interesting that none of the Executive Members who often contribute on this web page have attempted to spin this story.
Are they hoping that there is a chance of "least said soonest mended"?
But there are many other problems caused by GBBN that the LibDems failed to resolve. I think that this is a story that will run and run.
I can think of 80 million reasons why the LibDem Exec Members of Bristol City Council should be concerned!”
by Bristol100
Friday, October 05 2012, 11:30PM
“Hey diddle diddle our Tim's had a fiddle
With the bus lanes over the Downs.
The councillors laughed to see the huge jams
Winding all the way back out of town!”
by Bristol100
Friday, October 05 2012, 11:29PM
“Hey diddle diddle our Tim's had a fiddle
With the bus lanes over the Downs.
The councillors laughed to see the huge jams
Winding all the back out of town!”
by PolitDave
Friday, October 05 2012, 8:50PM
“If S. Glos council could now remove the ridiculous short stretch of bus lane and re-site the bus stop, which is dangerously too close to a junction, on Filton avenue by the George VI then perhaps we could start a game of 'Ping-Pong common sense' between councils.”
by KA12345
Friday, October 05 2012, 6:28PM
“DM_Fishponds
Thanks - I'll get on the case!!”
by DM_Fishponds
Friday, October 05 2012, 5:46PM
“@KA12345 - "Surely there must a grievance/complaints procedure to an independent body at a higher level??? Maybe we need to investigate this avenue and as a last resort, pursue it."
Google "Local Government Ombudsman".
I've used them twice against Bristol City Council. The score is currently one-all!”
by KA12345
Friday, October 05 2012, 5:32PM
“DM-Fishponds
The council seem to get away with whatever they want and hope to do so in future with more silly ideas in the pipeline:
EG:
* Tailored biased questionnaires/surveys
* Keeping reports secret claiming they are 'sensitive'
* Mercilessly ignoring petitions.... and then on some occasions having the cheek to say 'the public don't understand so we will just go ahead!' (Whiteladies Rd GBBN consultation had an 80% negative response, but BCC still pressed ahead!)
* Approving silly road/transport schemes which are dangerous and/or clearly a factor in injuries/casualties and then not doing anything about it (Old Market bus stops).
I could list many more but you probably know more than me...
The above examples border on pure arrogance, total incompetence, corrupt behaviors and ignoring the public they are there to serve along with wasting OUR money...
Surely there must a grievance/complaints procedure to an independent body at a higher level??? Maybe we need to investigate this avenue and as a last resort, pursue it.”
by Brizz_Tony
Friday, October 05 2012, 5:05PM
“One down, fifty more and a BRT to go.”