Bristol swing bridge plan 'barmy'

A Bristol bridge being made one-way for safety reasons has only seen one minor accident in the last five years.

The city council wants to close the inbound lane of the swing bridge on Prince Street to cars, keeping it exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians.

Cars will only be allowed to pass in one direction at a time, with entry to the bridge controlled by traffic lights.

The £40,000 scheme is aimed at making it safer and easier for people on foot and bicycles to cross the Floating Harbour into the city.

But council figures show just four pedestrians have been injured on the bridge in the last seven years and of these, only one accident has happened since 2002.

Opponents of the scheme say the statistics show the safety grounds for the closure are just a "convenient excuse for a general anti-car policy".

Top city councillors have clashed over the scheme, with Tory leader Richard Eddy calling it "barmy" and setting up an e-petition on the city council's website opposing the move.

He has been joined by Tim Davis, of property advisors DTZ based in nearby Queen Square, who said the safety argument was an excuse.

He said: "This idea is going to cause chaos in rush hour. The council is clearly pro-cycling, which is fine – but they need to offer an alternative to reaching the central business district. At the moment, there isn't that alternative and it seems that health and safety is a convenient excuse for a general anti-car policy."

Councillor Mark Bradshaw, the main advocate of the proposal, said traffic lights at either end of the bridge would assist growing numbers of non-car users on the bridge.

Tory leader Richard Eddy branded the safety concerns "bogus" after discovering there had only been one accident on the bridge in the past five years. It happened in 2007, when a pedestrian suffered slight injuries from being struck a car. The only other recorded accidents on the bridge were one accident in 2001 and two in 2002.

The proposal is expected to receive official approval at the council cabinet's meeting tomorrow. It is being funded as a part of the Cycling Demonstration City programme and is intended to be put in place by early next year, following a period of public consultation.

Mr Eddy said: "Far from representing an accident black spot, the number of recorded incidents between motorists and pedestrians at this shared crossing is miniscule. It's a fallacy for Councillor Bradshaw to claim Prince Street swing-bridge isn't safe.

"If anything, the width of the pavement ensures that both pedestrians and motorists are forced to exercise more care."

Mr Bradshaw said: "I want to promote safe and accessible journeys for all our residents.

"Once again, Councillor Eddy misses the point here which is about seeking to find a balance between all bridge users. I'm surprised at his labelling of this measure as anti-car, which is bizarre and extreme."

"He should take a look at how many people are now using the bridge to walk and cycle into our city - many of whom might have previously used the car."

The issue has been added to the agenda of an extraordinary council scrutiny meeting convened for November 24.