MetroBus contractors Alun Griffiths have announced that they will commence construction of the final stretch of new bus lane on Bradley Stoke Way next week (w/c Monday 27th February). The work area is located at the southern end of Bradley Stoke Way between Great Meadow Roundabout (junction with Baileys Court Road) and Great Stoke (Rabbit) Roundabout.
Vegetation clearance at the site began several weeks ago and some of the work area (opposite the junction with The Worthys) has already been fenced off.
The objective is to widen the carriageway to construct a new southbound bus lane on the eastern verge of the road, starting from a point approximately 300m back from Great Stoke Roundabout.
Full details may be viewed in a plan of the work area [PDF, 1MB].
A Griffiths spokesperson said:
“We anticipate that these works will last for approximately three months. Initially, we need to complete some groundwork, removing topsoil and the embankment. Temporary traffic lights will be required over a period which shall remain intermittent throughout the scheme, with an overall duration not expected to exceed three weeks over the anticipated three-month construction period. These traffic lights will be in operation at off-peak times only.”
“Earthworks will be planned once trial holes have been sunk. The project manager may decide to delay the earthworks until a favourable weather window materialises, in order to minimise issues with mud on the road.”
“All works will be during normal daytime working hours Monday to Friday 8am to 5pm and Saturday 8am to 1pm. During these hours, we will, at times, be using heavy plant machinery to lay and compact foundations for the new carriageway. This may cause some noise and vibration to the nearest properties.”
“We apologise for any disruption caused throughout this period of work and thank you for your continued patience as we work towards the conclusion of our works in this area.”
Photos: 1 Fenced-off verge near The Worthys (24th February). 2 Vegetation near Great Stoke Roundabout clearance (10th February).
Related links:
- MetroBus community website (Alun Griffiths)
- MetroBus construction in Bradley Stoke (The Journal)
So, we have endured 18 months of traffic hell in the North of Bradley Stoke on the Aztec Road approach from Bradley Stoke Way and now it has finished and the traffic lights have been switched back on.
Net result – back to square one , traffic jams on Brook Way and on Bradley Stoke Way in the mornings.
Will all these people in cars start to use Metro Bus when it starts? Nope, most of them are trying to get to/from the motorways. – utterly pointless!
But many of the cars using the motorway are heading into Bristol via M4/M32 and M5/portway,
So, the scheme is not totally pointless, and it hasn’t even started yet.
The main job for the new Metro Mayor, this may, should be to get BANES, Bristol and SG to implemented a common transport payment system, frequent interconnects between Metrobus, Bus and train, and road charging at pinch points to help address the terrible issue NOx pollution affecting the young and people with breathing issues.
Simon – I think you hit the nail on the head.
No one knows exactly where all this traffic is going. No surveys were done at all and is only going ahead because it was being funded by Central Govt who think its a good idea, not because the local authorities have done any proper analysis.
What is fact is that there is a choke point between the Aldi roundabout and the Aztec West roundabout and this scheme is just a punt that it might help a bit.
What definitely would of helped however was if the Bus Lanes were extra general traffic lanes. For one Bus every twenty minutes, which is what has been touted, having a dedicated Bus Lane will be extremely poor utilisation of the money spent as people queue watching it being empty.
It is a real shame that Bristol/SGS could not have implemented a tram system like Greater Manchester. Most of it has been funded from Government grants, etc but whilst Bristol and South Gloucestershire have argued, they have built tram lines, extended tram lines, added routes, intersected routes, etc to create a great system.
So now we have pristine bus lanes everywhere, blocked off, and no plans for 6 months of a bus service that will use them.
If SGS/BCC are serious about traffic, get First Bus/GWR to roll out a £5 ticket per day for ALL BUS/TRAIN journeys within the area, and ensure trains run every 15 minutes, and buses connect with them
Given all the time spent, one wonders why they didn’t put a fourth exit lane from BS onto Aztec roundabout. Allowing more traffic out on each green light would surely have made a difference. Instead it’s put back exactly as before except for a bus lane which won’t be used much. What a waste of time.
Once this has finished and the Stoke Gifford bypass goes live in September Bradley Stoke Way will be a nose to tail gridlock during rush hour
Was it deliberate to put the two lanes entering the Aldi roundabout form the Aztec west and Tesco with straight arrows when there’s only one lane exiting off the roundabout. Sounds like a recipe for accidents to me holding up the already gridlocked Bradley Stoke even worse.
Is the gridlock that is going to be caused with this MetroBus thing a deliberate ploy to make people consider using the thing???????? Not me, it doesn’t go my way. It’s a sure fire thing to make me seriously think about moving out of gridlocked Bradley Stoke.
Does anyone know what this is? Recently, dozens of thin sticks or canes, with coloured tops, have been planted in sections on the grass verge along Bradley Stoke Way, for example between Tesco roundabout, Webbs Wood roundabout and Great Meadow roundabout. Is this part of Metrobus intending to ‘landscaping’ the route with some shrubs or trees? Thank you.
New cars produce very low NOx output, so it would effect the young less then us older people.
The buses are no electric or hydrogen as far as I am aware so will have a large exhaust output whether empty or full, or in bus lane or normal road.
Most people who drive on motorway I doubt go in to Bristol on M32, plenty of jobs all around the country to drive to. Some drive all day for work.
The length of time the construction has gone on is completely unacceptable and wouldn’t take this long in a lot poorer countries!