This was the moment furious residents of Hotwells and the Cumberland Basin in Bristol were woken in the middle of the night by council contractors who began noisy roadworks in the middle of the night just ‘feet from their beds’.
People living in Hotwells said they hadn’t been told Bristol City Council would start repairing the entry ramp to the Plimsoll Swing Bridge in the early hours of Thursday morning this week.
Residents on Hotwell Road and Granby Hill described how they were suddenly disturbed in the middle of the night by the noisy roadworks taking place on Cabot Way, the southbound ramp which takes traffic up from the Portway and onto the Plimsoll Swing Bridge.
Mary Smith said many people came out to see what was going on. She filmed the scene at 2.50am and sent the video to the council there and then.
“It is currently 2.50am and we, along with numerous other residents, have been kept awake or repeatedly woken up as a result of the horrendous, intermittent noise from the roadworks within feet of our beds,” she said. “The noise is ongoing.”
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She said the council had recently closed that sliproad to repair it with a three-day closure that had seen southbound traffic diverted over the Merchants Road Bridge but the work was apparently not finished.
“I understand that the reason for the return is that poor weather meant not all works could be completed during the recent three-day closure - during that closure, works were carried out during the day,” said Mrs Smith. She said she and other residents were demanding to know why the council had to do the work in the middle of the night, and also had not told them in advance, so the first they knew was being woken up at 2am.
“Given the ability to divert traffic for the swing bridge, why is it that the decision was made to carry out these works, in the middle of the night and on a weekday?” she said.
“I assume it would not be impossible to do these works during the day or at the weekend, given that the previous three-day closure, for the same works, achieved this,” she added.
Mrs Smith said the work continued until gone 4am, leaving many people living in Hotwells sleep-deprived on Thursday.
“Why have the council not informed residents in advance?” she asked.
“Having recently received Bristol election correspondence through the post, I presume the council is not currently without the ability to post a notice of these works to us,” she added.
“What consideration was given by the Council as to the impact of these overnight works on residents, many of whom, including our household, will need to go to work and school in a few hours?” she asked the council at 2.50am.
“It is completely unreasonable for such works to be carried out in the middle of the night, within feet of residential homes, without warning and when daytime or weekend closure is possible,” she added.
Bristol Live contacted Bristol City Council on Thursday morning for a response.
