Fed-up residents call for traffic reduction over concerns on driver behaviour and safety

Poor air quality, heavy traffic and walker and cyclist safety were three big issues raised by people who took part in a consultation for a so-called ‘liveable neighbourhood’ in east Bristol.

Bristol City Council has now said it will look to bring in measures to reduce, slow and move traffic away from residential streets as part of The Liveable Neighbourhood for east Bristol, which covers Barton Hill, Redfield and St George.

One way of reducing traffic could be to introduce road barriers. Measures like this have proved controversial elsewhere in the country, so the city council wants to ensure the scheme is ‘community led’ by carrying out the public engagement.

The consultation earlier this year saw a survey completed by around 1,500 people plus an interactive map drawing in around 550 comments. ‘Solutions’ will now be drawn up and shared through a series of workshops ahead of case being built for a trial.

One of the main concerns raised through the interactive map was the ‘dangerous junction outside St George Park, which people said should have safety improvements.

Those taking part also said more crossings were needed on Church Road in St George.

The five biggest negative feelings people had about the area through the map was that it was not pedestrian friendly, driver behaviour, too much traffic, street feels stressful and too difficult to cross the street.

And the five improvements suggested were to slow down traffic, improve road safety, reduce traffic, create safer junctions for walking and cycling and add crossing points.

Meanwhile, the survey found people’s main issues were poor air quality, streets being too noisy with traffic, and the area feeling unsafe for walking and cycling.

A spokesperson for the project provided an update last week on what is now being done following the consultation, which took place between January and March this year.

They said: “Having an overview of the issues that people care about most, we have developed a range of possible solutions.

“This includes measures to reduce, slow and redistribute traffic away from residential streets, as well as measures to make walking and cycling safer, easier and more pleasant.

“We will be adding a list along with descriptions of these measures online in August so the community and stakeholders can think about which ones will work well in their neighbourhood.

“Later in the summer we’ll be inviting local people and stakeholders to a series of workshops in September and October, to find out what they think of the measures, whether they are right for their neighbourhood, and where they could have the most benefit.”

St George Central ward councillor Steve Pearce told BristolWorld: “Concerns over driver behaviour and rat runs through the area are issues I’m already aware of - the liveable neighbourhood will be an effective way of dealing with these problems.

“We all hope it will lead to people taking more active travel choices, whether they are taking the kids to school or going to work. We want to make the area safer and easier to use bikes and e-scooters.”

More on the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhoods scheme can be read here.