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Tea Stop

Changes to Bristol centre

by brooksby
Mon, Apr 03, 2017 13:36
9

Can someone please explain to me how "changing the Centre to make it better for pedestrians and cyclists" is served by putting a huge busy two lane road across the middle of it???  The illustrations on the plans and consultation made it look like one of those Exhibition Road style shared-space exercises but instead it's just bog-standard two lane blacktop with a pelican crossing.  And they've removed the pelican crossing by the Hippodrome, so you now have to wait to cross the new road, and then cross St Augustines Parade on another pedestrian crossing  surprise

 

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9 comments

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Canyon48 | 7 years ago
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To be fair, I've found the redesigned layout MUCH easier to negotiate on bike. 

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MonkeyPuzzle | 7 years ago
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Okay, I think I have it: from Broad Quay in the bus lane to cross the new Baldwin St link and then left onto the shared space. Over Colston Ave via the crossing opposite Co-op and onto the cyle path onto Colston St.

Does that work?

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brooksby replied to MonkeyPuzzle | 7 years ago
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MonkeyPuzzle wrote:

Okay, I think I have it: from Broad Quay in the bus lane to cross the new Baldwin St link and then left onto the shared space. Over Colston Ave via the crossing opposite Co-op and onto the cyle path onto Colston St.

Does that work?

Yeah, that's what I've been doing yesterday and today.  Its just a real PITA to have to cross onto the central bit with the dead fountains, go up to the other end, wait at the crossing on the new road, then wait at another crossing just to be able to get all the way across.  And I guess I'm just ranting about the injustice of building a busy new road right through the middle of the Centre.  All because of the great white elephant that will be the Metrobus Project.

I've also looked at the plans again, and the reason the crossing by the Hippodrome has been removed - and it is permanent removal - is because they're putting a special coaches-only parking space right outside the Hippodrome to drop off coach parties so they don't have to actually walk anywhere.

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MonkeyPuzzle replied to brooksby | 7 years ago
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brooksby wrote:

MonkeyPuzzle wrote:

Okay, I think I have it: from Broad Quay in the bus lane to cross the new Baldwin St link and then left onto the shared space. Over Colston Ave via the crossing opposite Co-op and onto the cyle path onto Colston St.

Does that work?

Yeah, that's what I've been doing yesterday and today.  Its just a real PITA to have to cross onto the central bit with the dead fountains, go up to the other end, wait at the crossing on the new road, then wait at another crossing just to be able to get all the way across.  And I guess I'm just ranting about the injustice of building a busy new road right through the middle of the Centre.  All because of the great white elephant that will be the Metrobus Project.

I imagine that's pretty annoying. In fairness though, it's not really a new road; they've merely straightened the route from Baldwin St to Colston Ave and removed the part of Rupert St that used to swing south of the cenotaph. As far as your route goes though, it's a new road to cross.

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MonkeyPuzzle | 7 years ago
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Aren't you free to join the bus lane out from the centre and across the scissor junction which is now not open to general traffic?

 

http://assets.heart.co.uk/2015/31/plan-for-bristol-city-centre-march-201...

Edit: sorry, saw you're trying to get onto Colston St, not Ave.

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brooksby | 7 years ago
1 like

My OP was because I'd tried to do what I usually do in the morning - I go from King Street across to Colston Street.  I'd gone across the shared-space to the Hippodrome crossing and found that had been removed, so I had to go round, wait at the crossing for the new road, then wait again at the crossing to get across to Colston Street.

This morning I tried going out of King Street, along to Baldwin Street, then using the new road - except that the new road doesn't let you turn left and there's no way of getting across to the other lane to just join the traffic going toward the M32 as there are barriers down the middle (presumably for that very reason) so it still doesn't help me for my little journey. 

Total PITA, and don't get me started on the still non-existent dropped kerb for the cycle lane up to Colston Street (where they closed it to motor traffic)...

(And, as per my OP, we were promised something that didn't have crossings, that looked like Exhibition Road in London, and instead we just have a busy new road cutting through the middle of the Centre with a pelican crossing.  Nice.  This has the City Centre Image Gallery with the publicity artists' impressions:  https://travelwest.info/metrobus/metrobus-build/city-centre-improvements  Compare and contrast with real life.).

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Redvee | 7 years ago
2 likes

I've been riding through the centre on a daily basis and seen the work progressing but wish they resurface the road asap. The flow of traffic from Ruperet Street towards the Hippodrome is quicker now, the average speed for my commute suggests it is. I used the new lay out in coming home with the right turn in Christmas Street coming from the Centre and was waiting nearly 5 minutes at a red light for them to change but as this is a bus lane and there are no induction loops visible in the road surface I'm assuming the lights only change when a bus approaches with a transponder. There is going to be a cycle route across the centre but i will be so used to using the road I won't use it. With the new layout you can't turn right out of Baldwin Street but rule doesn't apply if you drive a silver Bentley as I witnessed today.

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MonkeyPuzzle | 7 years ago
1 like

I dunno, negotiating the islands around the scissor junction was horrible and by removing the right turn for cars coming from Baldwin St and the turn left for cars into Baldwin St it should mean a lot less through traffic. I'm happy to give it a few weeks to see how it works.

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hawkinspeter | 7 years ago
2 likes

I think they're applying the congestion logic of London, but in reverse: if installing a cycle lane increases road congestion/pollution, then having a congested/polluted road must increase the space for cycling/pedestrians.

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