TRAFFIC restrictions at the Hambrook junction of the Avon Ring Road and Bristol Road will be removed by the end of April, South Gloucestershire Council has announced.
A ban on drivers on the westbound A4174 turning right towards Winterbourne, and traffic heading north from Frenchay going straight across or right at the junction, was introduced in 2019.
The then government told the council it had to make changes to cut nitrogen dioxide pollution to within legal levels.
Since that time traffic from Downend and Frenchay has had to go around the roundabout at the M32 junction to reach Winterbourne, and traffic from Frenchay has only been able to turn left at the lights.
The authority was told it could not reverse the changes until the Joint Air Quality Unit – part of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs – could confirm that the site had met national air quality standards for two years running.
In 2021 the government said it would not accept figures from pandemic years because of the reduction in traffic during lockdowns.
Now the council has received a letter from DEFRA, which says monitored air quality in both 2023 and 2024 met the national standards.
The improvement is believed to be partly because of an increase in the number of electric cars on the roads and in engine efficiency for other vehicles.
The council said it will fully reopen the junction, removing the concrete barriers that stopped drivers from making banned turns, by Monday, April 27.
It will also reinstate the bus lane on the westbound ring road on either side of the traffic lights – so other traffic passing through will be restricted to two lanes instead of three.
Council cabinet member for communities Sean Rhodes said: “We know how significant this junction is for road users, residents and local communities, and we have listened carefully to the concerns raised about the measures.
“I recognise they have caused inconvenience and we have worked hard behind the scenes to secure clear direction from the government on this matter.
“We have to be confident that any return to previous routes through the junction will not result in a return to unacceptable air quality.
“But because air quality at the junction has improved markedly in the past couple of years (and it seems likely that this is due to improvements in engine efficiency, and the increase in hybrid and electric vehicles), we can be confident that this will not happen.”
The removal of the restrictions has been welcomed across political lines, with Liberal Democrat Frenchay & Downend ward councillor Raj Sood, and Conservative ward councillor and group leader Liz Brennan both welcoming the change.
A petition drawn up by a Moorend resident in 2024 gained more than 4,400 supporters, and in the same year former Filton and Bradley Stoke MP Jack Lopresti called for an end to the “intolerable” delays caused by the restrictions.
Current MP Claire Hazelgrove, who unseated Mr Lopresti in 2024, said: “It has been a challenging time for local residents, particularly those who live close to the junction and others who used it every day, and I know this will be welcome news – and perhaps hard to believe until you see it after so long!”
She said lifting of the restrictions had always depended on proving that air quality had been within legal limits for two years running.
*A driving instructor has called on the council to reinstate speed limit signs on the westbound A4174 between the Wick Wick and Bromley Heath roundabouts.
The 50mph signs were painted over during recent road works and, while signs warning drivers of a new 40mph limit have been installed between Bromley Heath and Hambrook, the others had not been restored as the Voice went to print.
Richard Sweeting says he has reported the issue three times to the council, adding: “There are no longer any visible speed limit signs, which I consider dangerous.
“I often take students on this stretch of the Avon Ring Road and am not able to advise them of the current speed limit!”
A council spokesperson confirmed the stretch of road with the blanked-out signs still has a 50mph limit but was not able to say when the signs would be restored.