Yesterday it took motorists four hours to do three miles due to faulty traffic lights on the M32 with the knock on effect of all arterial routes shafted.
The same today.
Alternative ways are the Eastern side ring road, M5 via Bridgwater, Bath A36, avoid the A 37 Whitchurch to the city center.
Or try Avonmouth under the suspension bridge at Clifton.
bit of a hike going via bridgwater !!
bristol is most congested city outside london . there are just not enough parking spaces , through routes or road capacity to cope with demand
some cures are easy :
consolidate freight for city depending on delivery point . is ridiculous having a free market in van deliveries particularly , where 10 different firms are all delivering a parcel to same street . needs 1 van to do all of street .
impose daytime shop delivery ban . most supermarkets and shops have night time curfews , because residents complain about noise ! is totally arse about face
have a re think of oneway streets and weight limits . is stupid that you cant go from say farrington gurney to A370 without going thru city center or bedminster . why is hartcliffe rd/kingshead lane a 7.5 ton limit ■■. ive been up there many times in artic in olden days and is easy route . i know they intending to build relief road , but this will be ineffective as will just be an excuse to infill with more houses .
make people send kids to local school . so much traffic in rush hour is people driving kids across city to their preferred school
start charging / mile for use of roads and use some of the cash to subsidise public transport . in particular give cash to cycle commuters like they do in holland through income tax relief .
people driving from dormitory towns like yate , weston , chippenham and clevedon cause chaos . there needs to be financial penalties to change their habits , and plough the cash back into public transport .
public transport to major employment areas like arse end of avonmouth are non existant , particularly at night .
redesign ‘showcase’ busroutes . they spent millions moving bus stops out into traffic lane . try driving down from hanham to redfield on A420 . the bus stop at top of church road completely blocks traffic and causes chaos . the old bus stop thats set back from road is still there , and other morning i cycled past miles of stationary traffic all queued behind stationary bus where driver was reading paper !!
remove bottle necks on cycle paths like the one on route 1 behind VOSA office at lawrence hill . compulsory purchase 3 of their car spaces for goodness sake . and connect cycle paths up properly . grit the cyclepaths in winter and have police patrols , particularly around hartcliff to bedminster and center to mangotsfield and behind temple meads .
there is also a need to take control of housing , half the new flats around docks are sold to chinese investors and kept empty ! and demand for housing is pushed to crisis point by allowing flip flops to live where ever they like . in some towns in holland you need permission from gemeentehuis and police . unfortunately bristol people keep electing crazy liberals to office so unlikely to change anytime soon .
as avonmouth is now almost redundant as a port , build a new social housing ghetto city on it . id live there !
I did a drop in Bedminster last week, dropped down off the M4 along the 32 & straight through to the drop, coming back & it was a Nightmare, totally Gridlocked, so I span round & headed for the M5 North at Avonmouth, seemed a long way round but I reckon that I’d still be there now if I had carried on queuing [emoji22]
Is not helped by princes st bridge being shut but council ballsed it up with daft 1 way system between redcliffe and that little bridge . years ago there was wobbly flyover which they removed to improve flow !!
Also not helped with tunnel from feeder road under templeeads being closed . god knows what they doing there
I used to really enjoy delivering flour around Bristol, I think I was one of the only drivers who did like it. Sadly it seems the traffic has been stuffed up since I last went there. It used to be an easy place to get around and that was only about 14 months ago I was last there.
There are also the 20mph roads that our car loving mayor has introduced. These are not just residential roads but also some main roads as well. Somebody must be on a nice earner from the maker of the thousands of 20mph signs fixed to lamposts now.
IF you come to the end of the M32 and head straight on towards the main city centre this is all 20mph now so beware. At 3.00am with a clear road you will be overtaken by litter on a windy day. It makes me feel good at 72 years of age that I can break the speed limit on my old push bike.
Im pleased to hear it !
I only average 17mph on my mountain , and im younger than u !
20mph limit for vehicles is good thing tho . some of my kids live up 2 mile hill way and 20 still seems fast when kids walking around on narrow pavements . doesnt seem to apply to buses/taxis in bus lanes tho
The bit u talking about by cabot shopping actually reduces congestion i think , by reducing bunching effect of accellerating and braking . and you only going to come to grinding halt when you get to temple meads anyway
The A4174 ring road around Emerson’s is only going to get werse with all the new houses going up but no extra roads to cope with the increase in population, this is also happening around the old Filton airport too, Portishead is hard work getting in and out of at peak times because it’s grown massively but the infrastructure hasn’t, they have a railway line there but the government won’t spend the cash to do it up.
All brilliant replies and good ideas, the Mayor of Bristol wears red trousers, it looks ridiculous in a grown man, ok if you are five years old.
If going to and from Shepton, the M5 via Bridgwater is viable if fully freighted, to avoid Bristol.
It is terrible for jay walkers who cross the road on a red light for them, they look like rabbits trying to avoid being run over and they have a puzzled expression.
Avonmouth used to a thriving place years ago, then a weight limit by the Police station put an end to that, there was a CB shop there and another CB shop at the truckstop.
In France, all villages and towns have a ring road or bypass for trucks to use.
The UK seems rammed full with traffic, every car is single occupancy, and you do wonder where is everyone going in between commuting times.
What is going to happen to Filton airport, all that wasted land, and why is the Concorde left outside to rot away ?
toby1234abc:
What is going to happen to Filton airport, all that wasted land, and why is the Concorde left outside to rot away ?
In the process of planning applications going through. Mostly housing, some commercial/industrial, and some retail with a planned expansion of Cribbs Causeway.
On the positive transport side, there are plans to re-open the Henbury loop with a station on the South side of the airfield (this should also improve the public transport situation at Avonmouth as it would now get through trains rather than just being on the Severn Beach dead-end). Plus, when it’s finished, the MetroBus system should provide a fast-ish link to the city centre (at least, faster than going down Gloucester Road).
As for Concorde, they’re trying to get together the money to build a museum for it.
I would advise to avoid Bristol on any day.
the nodding donkey:
I would advise to avoid Bristol on any day.
Why.
bald bloke:
the nodding donkey:
I would advise to avoid Bristol on any day.Why.
+1. Nice place to shop and have a walk around. The bombed out church is a nice sobering visit.
Muckaway:
+1. Nice place to shop and have a walk around. The bombed out church is a nice sobering visit.
too true .
but dont add to chaos by bringing your car into city center .
use your bike . bristol is best seen by bike and is , in my opinion , the best cycle network in england .
if you come by train remember theres probs only 3 spaces on intercity trains , but temple meads is a cycle hub . when you come thru ticket barriers just keep walking straight ahead out little door .
if you want to bring your bike by car then park outside center and pootle in on one of the great cyclepaths
if approaching from north east or west then head to morrisons fishponds and park for free just behind . even a tipper driver can find the cyclepath from there .
if you coming from the south theres not much free parking left . try bedminster parson street area , but cyclepaths hard to find .
maps , info
visitbristol.co.uk/things-to-do/ … re/cycling
bristolbathrailwaypath.org.uk/home.shtml
sustrans.org.uk/ncn/map
enjoy
boredwivdrivin:
but dont add to chaos by bringing your car into city center .
Cool! I’ll add un licensed and pious chaos using my pedals! What is it? Film people, erm, everywhere? i won’t forget to lecture the general public on their failings. When I visit I’ll cycle down from 200 miles away. I can lounge about the coffee bars glaring at people lest they look at me the wrong way, because I’ll be a proper cyclist, spotting those who take issue with my higher command and righteousness!
Have you ever thought that every motorist on a cycle would be a scourge to the pedestrian, far worse than a motorist? 40 thousand or so pious ■■■■■ yelling about the Highway Code weaving through the roads and ringing their bells like privileged plagued simpletons, filming and lecturing people on their conduct.
You and this cycling bell cry. You’re in danger of becoming a stalwart fanatic.
James the cat:
boredwivdrivin:
but dont add to chaos by bringing your car into city center .Cool! I’ll add un licensed and pious chaos using my pedals! What is it? Film people, erm, everywhere? i won’t forget to lecture the general public on their failings. When I visit I’ll cycle down from 200 miles away. I can lounge about the coffee bars glaring at people lest they look at me the wrong way, because I’ll be a proper cyclist, spotting those who take issue with my higher command and righteousness!
Have you ever thought that every motorist on a cycle would be a scourge to the pedestrian, far worse than a motorist? 40 thousand or so pious [zb] yelling about the Highway Code weaving through the roads and ringing their bells like privileged plagued simpletons, filming and lecturing people on their conduct.
You and this cycling bell cry. You’re in danger of becoming a stalwart fanatic.
My deepest apologies. I was unaware that this is now a tourist information site/traveler guide/cool city to visit app.
I advise against visiting Bristol from a road user view, because the roads are over congested, the ring road is a joke, the traffic lights are a ■■■■ take, and this is a truck driving site. And apart from the bombed out church, the rest of Bristol is a run down pile of… shopping is like it is every where. Same shops in same mall… am I in Bristol? Swindon? Birmingham? Glasgow?
The only way to travel to Bristol is via the river, or the feeder canal.
yo james the prat , the OP described "gridlocked doom and gloom " . a view i wholeheartedly endorse !
so ,i gave you some parking advice where you can happily ride , entirely off road to the center , to the bump/mtb track at ashton court , to bath and beyond , to gloucestershire . with just a little bit of road work you can ride to south wales !
this is entirely free of the constraints of the highway code and almost without traffic lights or junctions , you will be pleased to hear . these routes have NO traffic so you can learn to chill , free from threat of being killed by simpleminded DAF driver.
cameras along here are used purely to record the cycleway art works and industrial heritage ( did you know that cyclepath no1, mangotsfield to docks , is constucted on a victorian gravity railway route for example!!) ; and the linear green belts that cyclepath pioneer heroes created or saved
google.co.uk/search?q=brist … 24&bih=559
as you are travelling here from afar maybe you could park at warmley , on A420 just up from ringroad and reach the city in 1/2 hour or so . there are toilets , parking and a lovely signal box tea house for you to enjoy , pic below
google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl= … MwgpKAwwDA
any further help for you i shall be delighted to provide
the nodding donkey:
My deepest apologies. I was unaware that this is now a tourist information site/traveler guide/cool city to visit app.
apology accepted .
I advise against visiting Bristol from a road user view, because the roads are over congested, the ring road is a joke, the traffic lights are a ■■■■ take, and this is a truck driving site. And apart from the bombed out church, the rest of Bristol is a run down pile of… shopping is like it is every where. Same shops in same mall… am I in Bristol? Swindon? Birmingham? Glasgow?
i cant advise . ive never been in the shopping centers . perhaps the independents up glos rd would be more to your taste , as they are mine .
The only way to travel to Bristol is via the river, or the feeder canal.
i agree . the cycle path up the river from the top of feeder road is perhaps the most delightful of them all . gets muddy at top but then connects to bristol/bath path.
Bedminster, reminds me of Clarks Pies. 
When I delivered there they always fed you very well.
Fishponds not a great area but the bakery there had a young lass with lovely curves and you always got fed and watered. I would’ve liked a sausage sandwich off her… 
Montpellier, lots of young fanny but they seem to like graffiti and slating Banksy is like ■■■■■■■ on the Cenotaph.
Gloucester Road I always liked as it meant the run was pretty much finished.
Wasn’t that old railway at Warmley part of the Somerset and Dorset Railway and ran to Green Park station in Bath?