The ruling Tory group at South Gloucestershire Council has agreed to spend £25,000 to speed up a review into whether a bus gate is needed at the entrance of a housing estate near Cribbs Causeway .
It comes after a group of Charlton Hayes residents launched a campaign in April to stop a bus-only gate being installed at one end of Charlton Boulevard, the only road accessing their estate.
At the time residents said the move would force them to go almost a mile out of their way to get home as well as adding more cars to already- congested roads.
A bus gate was part of the original planning permission for the estate, and South Gloucestershire Council said the long-planned move would ease traffic on the junction with Gloucester Road and prevent Charlton Boulevard becoming a rat run in the future.
But now the Conservative-led administration at the authority has agreed to review the matter within a year.
The cabinet said it would allocate £25,000 to accelerate the review, with an aim for it to be concluded by February/March next year.
Sanjay Shambhu and Jo Buddharaju were part of the original campaign before they became councillors in the May local elections alongside veteran Tory councillor Brian Hopkinson.
Cllr Shambhu said: “We are pleased that the cabinet has agreed to progress the review of the bus gate and has put forward the funding to get it done.
“Charlton Boulevard is a well-used road within Charlton Hayes, giving much easier access to and from Hayes Way and the A38, and it would be frustrating for all residents if it were to be unusable by cars and only to be accessible by buses.”
Cllr Hopkinson has said £25,000 would help pay for the legal costs which come with challenging an element of a previous planning permission.
It has also been confirmed no work will take place to construct the bus gate until after the review and a decision has been made.
The council has also said the Charlton Hayes development needs to be substantially complete and established before any decisions relating to the bus gate can be taken.
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