Major change planned for A4018 junction amid safety concerns

Motorists on a main route could be banned from making a right turn toward Westbury-on-Trym at a busy junction amid concerns over safety.

Drivers are being asked how they use the A4018 junction with Falcondale Road and Henbury Road by Bristol City Council ahead of a planned overhaul to tackle safety issues and heavy traffic.

The scheme would see signal refurbishment works carried out at the junction as well as a 24 hour bus lane installed along a stretch of Falcondale Road.

The right-turn from Falcondale Road into Henbury Road, toward Westbury-on-Trym, would also be prohibited to improve safety. The council says just one car currently takes the right-turn every four minutes.

The council say the junction layout fails to meet current Highways design standards and policies, and that ‘safety hazards would remain’ without the changes.

On Tuesday (April 26) an elderly woman tragically died at the junction after being involved in a three-car crash. Police are appealing for witnesses or anyone who was travelling along Henbury Road at around 2.40pm to contact them on 101.

The crossroads have been deemed ‘dangerous’ by some motorists, and a cause for long queues in roads leading up to it.

The package of planned improvements would see right turn onto Henbury Road scrapped, the old traffic lights replaced, pedestrian crossing lengths reduced and the inbound lane 2 on Falcondale Road made ‘right turn only’ to stop traffic mixing in the same lane.

A 24-hour bus lane on Falcondale Road would also be enforced to improve bus journey times.

Bus services 1 and 13 currently get held up in traffic, which often causes long queues past Greystoke Avenue.

Here’s the full list of improvements:

• widen the existing traffic island located on the southern arm of Falcondale Road to improve the crossing point for pedestrians
• remove the existing sub-standard traffic island located on the northern arm of Falcondale Road to improve lane widths through the junction
• build out the corners of the junction to create wider footways, improve visibility and reduce crossing lengths for pedestrians
• add advanced stop lines for cyclists on all arms of the junction
• make the inbound lane 2 on Falcondale Road ‘right turn only’ to resolve the existing road safety issue with ahead and right traffic mixing in the same lane
• to prohibit the right turn movement from Falcondale Road outbound into Henbury Road to improve the safety and capacity of the junction (from recent traffic counts there are on average only 13 vehicles per hour, or 1 car every 4 minutes, that carry out this movement)

Link to the consultation is here. If you have any feedback for the Council you can email [email protected], call 0117 9036449 or write to Falcondale Road Junction, Transport Engagement Team, PO BOX 3399, 100 Temple Street, Bristol, BS1 9NE.