Work on this major scheme began on Monday 16th May 2016 and is expected to take between 12 and 18 months to complete.
Funded as part of an £18.1 million Growth Deal award made to the West of England Local Enterprise Partnership, this £4.5 million project is separate from the MetroBus work currently being carried out in the Bradley Stoke area.
South Gloucestershire Council (SGC) says the work is necessary to “mitigate the impact of traffic arising from new developments”, such as the Cribbs/Patchway New Neighbourhood where 5,700 new homes are expected to be constructed by 2027.
Scheme details
- Widening of the A38 approach to the roundabout from the north (i.e. from junction 16 of the M5) to provide six lanes entering the roundabout (compared to the existing four). This will enable two lanes to be dedicated to each of the key traffic movements (left to Bradley Stoke Way, straight on to the A38 towards Filton, and right turn to the Aztec West Business Park).
- Widening of the eastern side of the circulatory carriageway to provide four lanes through this part of the roundabout (two serving the straight-on movement to the A38 south and Filton, and two serving the right-turn into Aztec West Business Park).
- Installation of new pedestrian and cycle controlled crossing points across the A38 northern arm of the roundabout, and construction of linking shared use paths connecting the crossing points. Installation of new pedestrian and cycle controlled crossing points across the Bradley Stoke Way arm of the roundabout, and construction of linking shared use paths. Installation of new pedestrian and cycle controlled crossing points across the Aztec West arm of the roundabout, and construction of linking shared use paths.
- The existing northbound and southbound shared use footway / cycleway either side of the A38 will be widened to a minimum of 3m from the Aztec West Roundabout to junction 16 of the M5
View a plan of the work included in the scheme [PDF, 1.3 MB]
Consultation
- SGC consultation page (open 5th Aug 2015 to 18th Sep 2015)
- SGC consultation feedback report (published 11th Dec 2015)
Aztec West Roundabout traffic light issues
A series of faults with the new traffic signals at the roundabout have caused major gridlock on a number of occasions since August 2017. For details, see:
- Aztec West and A38 road improvement scheme branded a “complete failure” (BSJ)
- Long tailbacks in Bradley Stoke on 23rd January 2018
- Gridlock incident on 9th January 2018 (blamed on “unauthorised temporary traffic signals” on the A38 at Almondsbury)
- THIRD major fault at new Aztec traffic signals brings rush hour gridlock to Bradley Stoke (BSJ)
- Discussion on the BSJ Facebook page about the October incident :
- Discussion on the BSJ Facebook page about the September incident:
- Post #1 (21st September)
- Earlier magazine article about the August incident:
- Earlier website article about the August incident:
- Why do traffic lights at Aztec West show red when nobody is crossing?(BSJ)
See also:
Updates published by SGC
For the latest information, visit: Aztec west roundabout A38 southbound widening scheme
22nd November 2017
The Aztec West A38 Road widening project is now substantially complete and open for use by the public.
A small number of outstanding items remain including the erection of advanced direction signs, which are on order.
A project of this size requires the completion of a post-construction ‘Road Safety Audit’ which has also been requested. It is hoped that the remaining items and any issues arising from the road safety audit will be completed in the new year.
3rd August 2017
Statement relating to congestion in Aztec West Business Park on Wednesday 2nd August
We are aware of the issues affecting traffic at and around the Aztec West roundabout, particularly in relation to getting out of the business park. We apologise for the disruption caused and are working to fix the problem.
The issue has been caused by a problem with the software that controls the lights and we are taking immediate steps to get this fixed. Engineers have and will remain on site until this is done. If the repairs cannot be made in time today, if necessary we will direct traffic manually during this afternoon’s peak hours.
Local growth in population and business activity in the area has meant that the local road network has been running above its capacity in recent years. South Gloucestershire Council and Highways England have recognised this, which is why we have made significant investment in work on the roundabout to increase capacity and improve traffic flows and this work is almost complete.
We appreciate that traffic disruption causes frustration, but would ask for peoples’ patience, particularly while our staff are working on site to resolve the problem as quickly as possible.
See also: [Forum] Botched “improvements” leave drivers stranded in Aztec West
4th July 2017
The majority of the Park Avenue footway improvements have been completed where the block paving has been replaced by flexible footway construction. The Park Avenue traffic islands have been upgraded to incorporate all of the proposed pedestrian and cycle crossings. The A38 northbound shared use footway / cycleway has been widened to three metres or more.
The major utility works have been completed which has enabled construction of the southbound road widening.
Construction of the new southbound shared use path has commenced.
The A38 central reserve between M5 Junction 16 and Aztec west roundabout is currently being reinstated.
The traffic signals installation is currently under way with the main signals now operational. Work continues on the rest of the signals upgrades.
Resurfacing of the carriageways will commence on Monday 17th July for 3 weeks. This work will be completed under night time working starting at 8pm in the evening until 6am the following morning.
The resurfacing will require various road closures depending on which operations are being undertaken. Signed diversions will be in place.
10th January 2017
During our preparation works for the gas main diversion we discovered a number of additional redundant gas mains present that need to be dealt with.
In addition, the weather forecast is currently predicting sub-zero temperatures and possible adverse weather conditions during the planned work.
Our engineers have started work on the additional gas mains in advance, however to ensure that the scheduled work is completed on time they will need to work an extra shift.
The additional work shift will be carried out on Thursday (12th January) daytime to reduce the possibility of the work running over to Monday morning. Our engineers will be working on the site for 24 hours per day between 12th and 16th January.
We apologise in advance for any inconvenience caused.
Starting in the morning of Thursday 12th January, a lane closure will be placed on the A38 southbound approach to Aztec West roundabout. This will reduce the number of traffic lanes from 4 down to 3. The lane closure will then stay in place throughout the whole of the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday while the gas diversion is being completed. It is anticipated that the diversion will be finished in time for reopening the lane for the morning peak of Monday 16th January 2017.
30th November 2016
The A38 central reserve between M5 Junction 16 and Aztec west roundabout has been removed and replaced with carriageway construction.
A38 narrow lanes are now operational in both the northbound and southbound directions along with a temporary central reserve barrier and a temporary 30 miles per hour speed limit. This provides enough working space to safely construct the A38 southbound widening.
Advanced utility works have commenced on the A38 southbound footway which is now partly closed to pedestrian traffic and a pedestrian diversion is in operation.
A significant gas main diversion is required for the project that will require working in the A38 southbound carriageway. This has been planned with Wales and West Utilities to be completed in early January when the traffic is lightest for this time of year.
Starting in the evening of Thursday 12th January 2017 a lane closure will be placed on the A38 southbound approach to Aztec West roundabout. This will reduce the number of traffic lanes from 4 down to 3. The lane closure will then stay in place throughout the whole of the following Friday, Saturday and Sunday while the gas diversion is being completed. It is anticipated that the diversion will be finished in time for reopening the lane for the morning peak of Monday 16th January 2017.
4th October 2016
Good progress has been made on removing the A38 central reserve between Aztec west roundabout and M5 Junction 16. It is anticipated that we will be able to surface the old central reserve ready for vehicle running by the 14th October 2016. Narrow lanes running will then be introduced on the A38 southbound on the 15/16th October 2016.
A38 narrow lanes will then be operational in both the northbound and southbound directions along with a temporary central reserve barrier and a temporary 30 miles per hour speed limit. This will provide enough working space to safely construct the A38 southbound widening.
Advanced utility works have also commenced on the A38 southbound footway which is now partly closed to pedestrian traffic and a pedestrian diversion is in operation.
1st August 2016
The majority of the Park Avenue footway improvements have been completed where the block paving has been replaced by flexible footway construction. The Park Avenue traffic islands have been upgraded to incorporate all of the proposed pedestrian and cycle crossings except for the installation of the signals equipment. The A38 northbound shared use footway / cycleway has been widened to 3 metres or more.
Starting on Monday 5 September we will begin to remove the A38 central reserve. This will require narrow lanes running on the A38 northbound which should be implemented over the weekend before. To minimise congestion, the central reserve removal will be delivered with lane closures and night time works. The A38 northbound lane closures will commence at 9:00pm with A38 southbound lane closures commencing at 10:00pm. Overnight works will be removed each day by 6:00am for the following day.
After the central reserve is removed, A38 narrow lanes will be retained in both the northbound and southbound directions along with a temporary central reserve barrier. This will provide enough working space to safely construct the A38 southbound widening.
Starting early September some advanced utility works will be commenced in the southbound footways which are currently fenced off.
8th July 2016
On Friday the 8 July and Saturday 9 July there will be overnight trial hole excavations undertaken in the southbound carriageway. This will require the southbound A38 carriageway between M5 Junction 16 and Aztec west roundabout to be reduced to 1 lane overnight from 8:00pm to 6:00am.
10th June 2016
On Wednesday the 15th June there will be an overnight ground penetrating radar survey undertaken of the southbound verge and carriageway. This will require the southbound A38 carriageway between M5 Junction 16 and Aztec West roundabout to be reduced to 1 lane overnight from 8:00pm to 6:00am.
8th June 2016
The majority of the Park Avenue footway improvements have been completed where the block paving has been replaced by flexible footway construction. The outstanding areas are completion of the crossing points and traffic island work.
Starting on Monday 13 June we will begin widening the northbound A38 footway starting at the north end near the M5 Junction 16 roundabout. This will be delivered under off peak lane 1 closures. (9.30am to 3.30pm)