Metro mayor called on to help sort out Aztec West traffic shambles

A local councillor has called on the West of England Metro Mayor to step in and sort out traffic congestion around the Aztec West Roundabout, which is widely considered to have worsened significantly for the majority of road users since South Gloucestershire Council spent £4.5m on a road improvement scheme that took 18 months to implement.

Speaking at a Bradley Stoke Town Council committee meeting on 19th February, Cllr Brian Hopkinson said he had raised the matter with metro mayor Tim Bowles and asked him to liaise with SGC’s transport lead Cllr Colin Hunt and other members of the SGC Cabinet.

Relaying the story of a lady who works in Filton and frequently takes one-and-a-half hours to get home to Alveston in the afternoon peak, Cllr Hopkinson said:

“We’ve had so many roadworks, and for so long. Lots of work has been done, at the M5 J16 roundabout as well, and we hoped it would be sorted, but it’s not. It’s absolute rubbish!”

Another town councillor, Ben Randles, described his own experience of long queues forming in the other direction, for traffic coming off the M5 and wishing to turn left into Bradley Stoke. He reported that he had seen numerous “bumper incidents” and added: “For traffic continuing down the A38, it’s fine, but if you’re heading into Bradley Stoke it’s often quicker to pretend you’re turning right to Aztec West and then go all the way round the roundabout.”

It was also noted during the discussion that massive delays are also being experienced for traffic exiting the Aztec West Business Park during the afternoon peak (as reported in our February magazine). Commuters on this route blame traffic signals on a new pedestrian crossing on the slip road to the A38 northbound for holding up the traffic unnecessarily, but SGC officers have refused to accept this. Instead they claim that the timings of traffic signals on the M5 J16 roundabout, which are the responsibility of Highways England, need adjustment to improve traffic flows.

Cllr Randles asked the town clerk to write to both SGC and Highways England (copying in the Department of Transport and Jack Lopresti MP), raising the town council’s concerns and asking them to come up with a joint plan to solve the problem.

This article originally appeared in the March 2018 issue of the Bradley Stoke Journal news magazine (on page 36). The magazine is delivered FREE, EVERY MONTH, to 9,500 homes in Bradley Stoke, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge. Phone 01454 300 400 to enquire about advertising or leaflet insertion.