Road-building Goons Tear Up Pavement and Bike Lane

bristol | transport | news report Wednesday June 18, 2008 10:38 by Angry in St Agnes

Junction 3 road-works have knock-on effect on surrounding neighborhoods

Loss of pavement and cycle lane affect the residents of the local community, while cars in transit are prioritized above our quality of life

Digging the cycle path and putting lorries on the wrong side of Lower Ashley Road

My son was rudely awaked from his nap this morning by a sound that had my partner shouting 'the tanks are coming, the tanks are coming', and only partially tongue-in-cheek. The whole building juddered and shook to the vibrations of a huge digger equipped with hammer drill, tearing up the pedestrian pavement and the bike lane on Lower Ashley Road in St Agnes.

As part of the road-works to Junction 3, plans include removing the bike lane entirely, and narrowing the pavement. I was kindly informed by one of the planners when I went along to the 'community consultation' that this pavement was classed as 'wide'. Odd then, that you can't get a buggy down it 90% of the time. Perhaps this is also due to the council being less than enthusiastic when it comes to rubbish collection in poor neighborhoods? But I digress...

The community consultation was an opportunity for local residents affected by the Junction 3 road-works to come and look at plans, express their concerns, and have them totally dismissed by the planners. Works began about a month later. I'm still waiting for the promised response to my written complaint - or perhaps they're replying by actions?

Lower Ashley Road is already one of the busiest roads in central Bristol. It is a vital artery not only for cars but for cyclists and pedestrians as well. However, being so stuffed full of cars, it will be fantastically dangerous for cyclists now that the cycle lane has been removed. It will be even more lethal, considering that the plans call for an extra lane to be added to the road (hence the pavement theft) which will be a left-turn feeder lane, making it necessary to cycle up the middle of the road if you do not want to turn left. You will then be spit into the middle of one of Bristol's busiest junctions, the intersection of Lower Ashley Road, Ashley Road, and Sussex Place, and then heaven help you. This junction already has the longest cycle for pedestrian lights in the city, and something tells me that as all the plans are designed to aid the swift and smooth transit of cars through here, that ain't changing anytime soon.

It's all about getting the maximum number of cars off of and onto the motorway, and through ghastly St Pauls, St Agnes, Baptist Mills, and Easton, as fast as is (in)humanly possible. When I pressed the road planners on why they'd chosen a strategy that would increase road capacity, which as we all know will lead to a subsequent increase in traffic, rather than one to decrease traffic, they ignored me.

When pressed further about the consequences of their plan, they admitted that I, as a resident of the surrounding area and a non-driver, 'would probably end up worse off' but that their duty was to think of the larger majority of car users. Doesn't that just say it all.