Urgent calls to revamp ‘dangerous’ junction outside St George Park as part of liveable neighbourhood

More than 3,000 people responded to a consultation for a Liveable Neighbourhood for east Bristol
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An urgent rethink is required for a ‘dangerous’ junction outside St George Park, say some of the thousands of people who took part in a consultation for a so-called ‘liveable neighbourhood’ in east Bristol.

People have also said more crossings are needed on Church Road in St George to improve safety, along with better cycle lanes.

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The Liveable Neighbourhood for east Bristol - covering Barton Hill, Redfield and St George - would be the city’s first and aimed at reducing traffic in residential streets, improving air quality and encouraging walking and cycling.

A consultation for the scheme, set to come into force with a trial next year, attracted almost 2,000 comments on an interactive map. There were also written submissions, including from St George Active Travel Group.

Interestingly, while there many comments concentrated on traffic levels and litter in residential streets off main roads, there was also a focus on Church Road - the main route through St George and Redfield - and in particular, its junction with Chalks Road and Blackswarth Road.

The junction, next to The Red Church pub and an entrance to St George Park, is a pinchpoint for traffic and has four pedestrian crossings around it. It has been described as dangerous due to amount of vehicles and slow pedestrian crossing.

The junction of Church Road and Chalks Road and Blackswarth Road has been highlighted as an area for improvement by residentsThe junction of Church Road and Chalks Road and Blackswarth Road has been highlighted as an area for improvement by residents
The junction of Church Road and Chalks Road and Blackswarth Road has been highlighted as an area for improvement by residents
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People responding to the consultation say it should be changed, with ideas including allowing pedestrians to cross the middle of it, rather than round its perimeter. Another idea is to repalce it with a roundabout and zebra corssings.

One person said: “This is a really bad, junction, which is very difficult to navigate with children, buggies wheelchairs. The staggered pedestrian junctions don’t really work for all the foot/bike, pram, wheelchair traffic.

“I would recommend making road traffic completely stop whilst people can walk across the middle of the road, rather than cross each section where there isn’t enough space.”

Another said: “Perfect place for diagonal pedestrian crossing please. I can think of no better place for this in Bristol. So many stages to crossing this street. Phasing of lights should favour pedestrians and cyclists not cars.”

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On a roundabout, one person said: “A roundabout and zebra crossing would increase the flow of traffic and pedestrians through the junction, minimising stand still traffic, fumes, wait times and accidents caused by rushing accross the ineffective crossings.”

On the main road through St George, others also called for more crossing to improve safety and give a greater priority to pedestrians over vehicles. There were also requests for more cycle lanes to, again, improve safety along the busy route.

St George Active Travel Group took part in the consultation, sending a report to the city council after carrying out two walking audits of Church Road last year.

A spokesperson said: “Critical for the success of the high street will be it’s permeability for people on foot - therefore we believe that more pedestrian crossings will be needed.

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“We also believe that shorter wait times at light controlled crossings would help prioritise foot over motorised traffic. The existing Chalks Road junction in particular has long wait times for people on foot, reducing the connection between the high street and the park.”

Bristol City Council is now analysising all the comments, collected between January and March this year, ahead of developing vision which will form part of a business case for funding from the West of England Combined Authority for a trial scheme.

A council spokesperson said they were ‘overwhelmed’ by the response, and added: “We’re now go through all the feedback to find out where the most challenges are and what your desires are for the pilot area, covering Barton Hill, Redfield and St George.

“This will help us understand all what is important to the community and what the current issues are. We will then look to develop a range of possible solutions and plans with the community so we can work together to design our first liveable neighbourhood scheme.”

More information on the scheme can be found here.

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