The West of England’s new metro mayor has criticised £30million plans to widen Bristol ring road – the day after they were announced.
Labour’s Dan Norris says there is a “strong possibility” that making roads bigger only generates more car journeys and does not solve congestion.
His comments pose a serious threat to the proposals which were unveiled only on Monday (May 24) by Conservative-run South Gloucestershire Council as it launched a 12-week public consultation.
The A4174 upgrades, which would be paid for largely by the Government, involve extra lanes, “throughabouts” and more traffic lights – but no bus lanes – at five roundabouts from Lyde Green to Kingsfield.
Bristol city Green councillors have also criticised them, saying the money should be invested in public transport, walking and cycling and that adding car lanes to tackle gridlock is like “loosening your belt to cure obesity”.
Meanwhile, readers largely reacted with dismay, with several saying they would prefer to see flyovers instead of throughabouts, also called “hamburger roundabouts”, where lanes for straight-ahead traffic on the main carriageway are ploughed through the middle of a roundabout.
If the scheme is approved by the Department for Transport, work is expected to begin in 2022 in phases and take three years to complete.
Asked by the Local Democracy Reporting Service what he thought about the scheme, Mr Norris said: ‘"I will be looking at roadworks under way to see whether changes might be necessary.
“We have to look at the strong possibility that just widening roads simply causes increased journeys by car and does not alleviate congestion."
Mr Norris is in charge of the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) and has strategic regional responsibility for transport.
Newly elected Bristol city Green Cllr Ed Plowden, who used to work in the authority’s transport department, said: “Although we appreciate that the ring road can be very congested and this causes problems for people, the Green Party is concerned it has been shown time and again that building new roads and increasing the capacity of existing ones is self-defeating.
“The 65-year-old quote ‘Adding car lanes to deal with traffic congestion is like loosening your belt to cure obesity’ is as relevant as ever.
“The extra capacity will fill up and the approach simply locks in more car dependency.
“South Gloucestershire has previously taken out bus lanes on the ring road.
“The funding should instead be used to tackle the climate crisis by encouraging bus use and active travel.
“We urge the new Weca mayor to conduct a rapid review of all new road building proposals.”
First Bus commercial director Rob Pymm said: “We are aware of the plans put forward by South Gloucestershire Council to upgrade the ring road and will be responding as part of the consultation to ensure the needs of buses to serve their customers effectively are taken fully into account.”
Reacting to the upgrades, one Bristol Live reader wrote: “Oh good grief no. It’s taking them literally years to put just one of these throughabouts in by Warmley and it still isn’t finished.”
Another said: “Why don’t they just build a flyover for through traffic?
“Many years ago the A419 east of Swindon had roundabouts along its length and during morning rush hour there were long queues but later they installed flyovers at the roundabouts and problem solved.”
A third posted: “SGC relationship with the ring road is like that of a child with a scab…they just can’t leave it alone.
“They focus on these grand ideas and projects but can’t keep up on the general upkeep and maintenance.”
Another branded it an “absolute waste of money” and an “absolute joke”.
Announcing the project on Monday, South Gloucestershire Council said the intention was to encourage “necessary strategic car trips” on the A4174 because it was the most suitable for commutes and longer vehicle journeys.
The council said air quality would be improved because the improved flow of traffic through the major junctions would ease congestion.
Cabinet member for regeneration, environment and strategic infrastructure Cllr Steve Reade said it would also deter motorists from rerouting through local communities.
