CALLS are being made for South Gloucestershire Council to rethink a reduced speed limit introduced on the Avon Ring Road.
The 40mph limit has been introduced between the Bromley Heath roundabout and Coldharbour Lane, near UWE’s Frenchay campus, as part of a scheme to build segregated cycle lanes and footpaths, which was finished in December.
The council first announced plans to cut the speed limit to 40mph in 2023. It said this would apply only to the westbound carriageway, heading towards Filton, on the same side as the upgraded path.
However last year, while works were under way, a statutory notice was published proposing that the road should have a 40mph limit in both directions.
The new limit came into force on December 19.
The council says the reduction is “essential” to ensure the Department for Transport-funded scheme complies with national guidance.
It says the gap between the new cycle lanes and the road carriageway is too narrow for a 50mph road in places, and vehicle lanes themselves are now too narrow to meet safety standards for a 50mph limit.
Opposition Conservatives insist the change is unnecessary and have called for a rethink.
Tory group leader and Frenchay & Downend ward councillor Liz Brennan said the reduction was “frankly ridiculous”, adding: “Introducing a uniform 40 mph limit on this stretch of road feels out of step with what drivers expect, potentially lowering compliance, increasing frustration and making the road less safe, which is counter-productive.”
The Conservatives highlighted a police comment during the consultation that a speed limit should “look and feel like the limit”.
Cllr Brennan said the ring road “looks and feels like a 50mph road” and said the council’s Lib Dem/Labour administration “needs to stop, listen and rethink” the change, which was opposed by most people who responded to consultations.
In the public questions session at December’s council meeting, resident Joe Payne asked: “If a council consultation has an overwhelming objection to the proposal, why is the proposal then given the green light?
“The A4174 speed reduction had a 90% objection response, yet continues.
“What is then the point of us responding to a consultation if the response is just ignored when the proposal has been overwhelmingly objected to by the public?”
Downend resident Tom Williams made a series of Freedom of Information requests
asking for figures to explain how the council’s aims to improve air quality, address climate change and road safety would be achieved by the scheme.
He said the responses did not address the issues, because no air quality assessment had been carried out in advance, and the figures for collisions on the affected stretch of road did not compare them to the number of journeys successfully taken.
Tom said: “How can they possibly know what effect these works will have on air quality if they do not have a baseline measurement to work from?”
Responding to the calls to rethink the new limit, a council spokesperson said: “The A4174 improvement scheme is a significant investment in our transport infrastructure, which is delivering key upgrades including new and widened cycle lanes, improved pedestrian crossings, and additional bus infrastructure to make public transport more reliable and attractive.
“In 2023 we consulted on the proposals, with most respondents supporting new or wider cycleways.
“To meet national standards, the scheme must include minimum buffer widths and speed limits.
“Lower speeds will help protect vulnerable road users, particularly at new crossings and shared-use paths.
“With limited space, only a 0.5m buffer is possible in some areas, making a 40mph speed limit essential for safety.”
• South Gloucestershire Council is proposing to ban pedestrians from walking on verges on parts of the ring road.
An order would prohibit people from walking on the verges on the north side of the road between the metrobus stop near the Hambrook traffic lights and the lay-by east of the Church Lane overpass, on the other side of the Bromley Heath roundabout.
Pedestrians would also be banned from using the verge on the south side of the A4174 where the foot and cycle path moves on to the top of the embankment next to Bromley Heath, and at the top of Bromley Heath Road where the footpath is not at the roadside.
Comments can be made at consultations.southglos.gov.uk until January 31.