South Gloucestershire Council has started work on expanding the A4174 ring road between Filton and Hambrook.
The work is to install priority vehicle lanes on the A4174 ring road between Coldharbour Lane and the M32 junction in the West and East bound directions. These are additional lanes and will not reduce the amount of lanes to general traffic.
The work is scheduled to minimise the impact on the local road network. At peak times the amount of lanes open to general traffic will stay at two lanes, which will be slightly narrower than usual, the council will restrict wherever possible any works that reduce the number of traffic lanes on the ring road to off peak and overnight working hours. A temporary speed limit of 30mph will also be implemented during the works.
The extra road space that is being proposed to accommodate priority vehicles will also free up room in the general traffic lanes, which will ensure that all road users benefit from these major improvements.
Councillor Brian Allinson, executive member for planning, transportation and strategic environment, said: “The additional priority vehicle lanes that we are proposing should reduce journey times for buses and improve reliability making bus travel a more attractive option for more of our residents.
“Furthermore, moving certain vehicles out of the general traffic lanes and into the extra priority vehicle lane will free up space for those motorists who will not qualify to use the new additional lanes ensuring that they too benefit from improved journey times.
“It is important to stress that we are not reducing the number of lanes for general traffic. In fact, by creating extra road space, we are aiming for every road user to benefit from this important scheme.”
The work is expected to complete in summer 2011.
This scheme is part of the Greater Bristol Bus Network a £70m project to develop 10 showcase bus corridors. The extra lanes will provide reliability for the bus services in the area.
Bus services currently using this route include the X73 Cribbs Causeway to Bristol City Centre and the ULink service U4 for the University of the West of England (UWE). In the future this part of the ring road will also be used by additional bus services linking UWE with developments at Emersons Green.
The priority vehicle lane will be open for all buses, car sharers, taxis and heavy goods vehicles.
Source: South Gloucestershire council
