Traffic in Bristol
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- JackieRoads
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Traffic in Bristol
As you may know, there is heavy traffic in Bristol at the moment, but it may not be linked to a accident.
There's always traffic in Bristol, all the time, and several proposals to reduce the amount of traffic by building new roads (example A4174 to the A370), that was built, but there's some construction works going on, including the convertion of Wraxall Road Roundabout to a cut-through roundabout, but the traffic levels keep building up, and more proposals are getting rejected.
Is there a way around this so Bristol is traffic-free?
There's always traffic in Bristol, all the time, and several proposals to reduce the amount of traffic by building new roads (example A4174 to the A370), that was built, but there's some construction works going on, including the convertion of Wraxall Road Roundabout to a cut-through roundabout, but the traffic levels keep building up, and more proposals are getting rejected.
Is there a way around this so Bristol is traffic-free?
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As a wise roadie said, don't make any mistakes in building roads.
As a wise roadie said, don't make any mistakes in building roads.
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Sat-navs not directing through traffic into the centre would be a good start. I know of someone who was making a journey from Basingstoke to Exmouth last week, and due to traffic conditions they were routed via the A339/M4 rather than the more obvious A303 (despite the latter being only 3 minutes slower at the time of departure). Presumably they would have stayed on the motorway all the way to Exeter, but due to heavy traffic at Almondsbury, they got routed right past Bristol Cenotaph in the heart of the city, adding an extra hour to the journey!
Re: Traffic in Bristol
The complete lack of a fit-for-purpose public transport system is part of the problem, but solving that will take a lot of time and money. Also not building miles and miles of entirely car-dependent housing would also help, but that ship has sailed
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Bristol is constrained by geography so even slotting tram routes along major radial routes which are the less hillier roads would be tricky.
Bryn
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Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Re: Traffic in Bristol
You do know that is what housebuilders build because they know that's what people want to buy and have long aspired to ?
Re: Traffic in Bristol
If I aspire to have sex with one of my friends, they don't provide it just because I want it. People simply wanting something that benefits them and no-one else is not a good enough reason to keep doing it.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.
Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Really? People aspire to estates of poor quality new build housing sandwiched between industrial areas and motorways on former railway land, miles away from any shops and amenities....
I suspect people buy such houses because they are priced out of what they actually aspire to, and the failures in planning and social policy plus general profit maximizing attitude of housebuilders is instead how we've ended up in such a situation.
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
Remember also 'cramped'. The UK housebuilding industry continuing it's fine tradition of providing us with the smallest houses in Europe, such that what may initially pass for a garage actually becomes the overspill storage area - because that's what consumers want.
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Wow, I have always lived in cities but I would have never guessed that.
I can imagine some people not wanting to use public transport, but to want to not even have the option, to want to be car dependent, for that to be an aspiration? Wow, I am just stunned by that.
- ravenbluemoon
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
Whatever happened to the aspiration of a Bristol Metro system that I saw mooted a few years back? Most of it involved using heavy rail - the existing Avonmouth line, and reopening lines to places like Portishead. Perhaps tram/train could work in some of the sprawling estates to the north around Cribbs Causeway? I'm presuming capacity at Bristol Temple Meads could be an issue.
Tony Alice (they,them)
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~~~~~
Owner of a classic rust heap/money pit, and other unremarkable older vehicles.
Usually found with a head in an old map or road atlas.
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
Interesting to think that a typical German city the size of Bristol, (population 686,000) would have a comprehensive light-rail/tramway network, plus bus routes, and they would get a heft subsidy to encourage use. The Germans look on our attitudes to public transport in cities with amazement. Here is what Stuttgart, (population 634,000) has: -
https://en.vvs.de/home/
And what has Bristol got ? Damn all apart from expensive First Group buses !
https://en.vvs.de/home/
And what has Bristol got ? Damn all apart from expensive First Group buses !
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Correction - they have long aspired to have their own home and they buy what they can afford.
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Other countries manage to build new housing and provide decent public transport infrastructure to it
Re: Traffic in Bristol
Yes, that is a big problem, and the radial routes such as Gloucester Road are too narrow for any segregated service. The railways generally don't go where the people are, or particularly near the city centre. The only proper answer is something at least partly underground, but I imagine jetpacks are more likely
- Chris Bertram
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
Public transport won't run where there are no people to use it. So new build estates will, almost by definition, be without buses until there are residents to use them. I tend to hear a lot of people putting the cart before the horse in these scenarios, and i wonder why.someone wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 15:37Wow, I have always lived in cities but I would have never guessed that.
I can imagine some people not wanting to use public transport, but to want to not even have the option, to want to be car dependent, for that to be an aspiration? Wow, I am just stunned by that.
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
Brunel certainly chose an inconvenient location for his station. But does Bristol have bad traffic compared to other British cities of similar size?Herned wrote: ↑Fri May 28, 2021 17:25Yes, that is a big problem, and the radial routes such as Gloucester Road are too narrow for any segregated service. The railways generally don't go where the people are, or particularly near the city centre. The only proper answer is something at least partly underground, but I imagine jetpacks are more likely
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
There's so many problems with transport in Bristol it's hard to know where to begin, really.
If money were no object, I'd say the way to go would be to provide a decent ring road, particularly to the south, meaning much less through traffic from places like the airport.
That would allow a bit less road space to be allocated to cars in the centre, and gradually more and more space could be allocated to public transport and bikes. Better cycle provision seems to be the easier, quicker option, but given the very hilly nature of Bristol won't be suitable along every corridor.
If money were no object, I'd say the way to go would be to provide a decent ring road, particularly to the south, meaning much less through traffic from places like the airport.
That would allow a bit less road space to be allocated to cars in the centre, and gradually more and more space could be allocated to public transport and bikes. Better cycle provision seems to be the easier, quicker option, but given the very hilly nature of Bristol won't be suitable along every corridor.
- JackieRoads
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Re: Traffic in Bristol
If the South Bristol Spur was approved, it could have had a impact, like otherwise reducing traffic levels?
But one thing I want to see come to life is the Southern Bristol Bypass like similar to my strip map over in the Fantasy Maps and Ideas thread...
But one thing I want to see come to life is the Southern Bristol Bypass like similar to my strip map over in the Fantasy Maps and Ideas thread...
Fantasy Strip Map Creator- feel free to send me some requests!
As a wise roadie said, don't make any mistakes in building roads.
As a wise roadie said, don't make any mistakes in building roads.
Re: Traffic in Bristol
I fear it's a problem of most big cities.
The cities are built on people working, shopping, studying and relaxing there. Many people travel in and out, people like the convenience of their own transport.
Mrs Thatcher could be blamed for her comments about adults on buses being failures, but she was only reflecting what people already thought.
Buses are not a solution to pollution, look at Oxford Street in London.
When the weather is good I prefer my bike to the bus, nearly as fast, and a guaranteed seat. Not everyone is up for cycling though, and more of my commute is driving than cycling.
Early morning buses out of Ramsey have been messed around and no longer provide a sensible commute for many.
Remote working may be a solution if you're not a city centre office owner.
High Street shopping is shrivelling fast, so that demand may go.
I think education may remain face to face for a bit.
Cities may change, the successful ones will reinvent themselves, the less fortunate ones may decline.
The cities are built on people working, shopping, studying and relaxing there. Many people travel in and out, people like the convenience of their own transport.
Mrs Thatcher could be blamed for her comments about adults on buses being failures, but she was only reflecting what people already thought.
Buses are not a solution to pollution, look at Oxford Street in London.
When the weather is good I prefer my bike to the bus, nearly as fast, and a guaranteed seat. Not everyone is up for cycling though, and more of my commute is driving than cycling.
Early morning buses out of Ramsey have been messed around and no longer provide a sensible commute for many.
Remote working may be a solution if you're not a city centre office owner.
High Street shopping is shrivelling fast, so that demand may go.
I think education may remain face to face for a bit.
Cities may change, the successful ones will reinvent themselves, the less fortunate ones may decline.
Re: Traffic in Bristol
It was a perfectly convenient location when it was built. It is the poorly controlled growth since the mid 19th century that is the problem.