Transport issues in Westbury-on-Trym Village

 

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The story so far

Whether you’re a local WoT resident or a regular user of its services, you’ll be well aware of our Village’s current transport problems (congestion and delays, parking pressures, air pollution…), and that these are likely to get worse in the near future when fresh waves of traffic come down the A4018 (locally, the Falcondale Road) from the major new housing developments just north of Bristol’s boundary, in South Gloucestershire.

Maybe you’ll also recall that, pre-pandemic, in 2019, the City Council surprised us all with its various transport proposals for the Village in anticipation of these new pressures, only for them to be roundly rejected by residents during a subsequent public consultation.

Back then locals had no opportunity to put forward any alternatives - proposals came out of a clear blue sky – but we know the Council will be coming back with revised proposals eventually, and this time we can be ready with ideas of our own.

Image of the proposed changes on a map

The map illustrates key through-traffic routes and points of congestion.

  • N/S Route via A4018 (Falcondale Road)
  • E/W Route via Eastfield Road / Canford Lane
  • N/S Diversion to avoid parts of A4018
  • E/W diversion to avoid Waters Lane

Congestion as N/S and E/W traffic converges

Increased traffic flow is likely from developments in S Glos.

 

Where do we go from here?

A small group of local residents has been looking at these transport issues for the past couple of years. We’ve not been elected or appointed in any way, but have relevant professional and personal interests alongside links to many of the Village’s organisations. We’ve made regular reports to the WoT Ward and Councillor Forums.

Find out more about who we are and what we’ve been doing so far here

Recently, we’ve produced a Discussion Paper of local transport suggestions, in advance of the City’s revised A4018 proposals.

In summary, we’ve had three objectives:

  • To reduce rat-running, present and future,
  • To improve the flow of east-west and east-north traffic through the Village,
  • And, as far as possible, to preserve current local transport options for residents, visitors and ‘customers’.

To respond to the first we’re suggesting a range of actions, mostly designed to work through persuasion and incentivisation rather than barriers and road closures, on Passage Road, Chock Lane and High Street. For the second we’ve suggested changes to the Waters Lane/Westbury Hill and Canford Lane/Falcondale Road junctions and to the flows of traffic into and within the main car park, to prevent the backing up onto Westbury Hill that happens now.

Read much more of the details on the Westbury Transport Place Group Website

We’d now like to know what you think, not just about our ideas but also of others you may have. Hopefully, like ours, these would be in the form of a coherent ‘bundle’ of proposals rather than simply ‘stand-alone’ suggestions.

If you’d like to talk with us about any of this you can contact us via our email below. We’d be delighted to discuss ideas, whether face-to-face or electronically. Whatever you think of our suggestions, and they’re no more than that, our intention is open up a local debate and a sharing of ideas while we still have time. So please do get in touch.

Published: Nov 9, 2023