BUSES and taxis could be banned from driving down The Horsefair in Broadmead.
Bristol City Council is planning the changes to help accommodate an extra 5,000 people who are expected to be living in and travelling around Broadmead in the next few years. The council is now consulting the public until September 30.
Pedestrianising the Horsefair and Penn Street would make the city centre more welcoming and people-friendly, according to the council.
The public consultation includes other changes, such as two miles of new cycling lanes, a new express bus route, and changing the Bedminster Bridges roundabout into a signal-controlled junction. Access would be kept for emergency vehicles, and deliveries at quiet times. Bus stops, disabled parking bays and taxi ranks would be removed.
Several bus routes currently run down The Horsefair, and these will be diverted through Fairfax Street and Broad Weir alongside the back of Castle Park. Fairfax Street, which runs underneath the Galleries, will be made wider, brighter and have shop fronts, with new lifts installed.
New bus stops would be no more than a five-minute walk from their current locations. Overall, there will be an increase in disabled parking bays in the city centre, as part of separate plans to redevelop The Galleries shopping centre.
A new junction would be created next to Primark, connecting Union Street and the Haymarket. Taxis and motorcycles would be banned from Union Street, which would become two-way for buses and bicycles. This would allow a new ‘rapid transit route’ bus to run through the city centre. Terminated buses left empty would be moved out of shopping areas to Temple Way.
A bus gate would be installed at the Redcliffe roundabout, banning general traffic from driving up Redcliff Street. This is to speed up the journey times for the new rapid bus route, so buses don’t get stuck behind long queues of cars. Traffic would be diverted up Phippen Street instead.
Bus lanes would be created on Temple Way, as well as a new segregated cycle lane from the Old Market roundabout to the Temple Gate junction. Bus lanes would also be created on Bond Street, as well as a parallel cycling route running along Pembroke Street and Wilson Street.
Green Councillor Ed Plowden, chair of the transport policy committee, said: “These plans are transformative and will impact almost everyone who travels to, or through, Bristol city centre. Broadmead is changing as shopping patterns evolve. Empty shops and department stores can be used for new housing and associated infrastructure.
“A vision for Broadmead is set out in the Bristol City Centre Development and Delivery Plan. This consultation focuses on the transport and movement elements that would support this vision and the aspiration for a new rapid transit route. We want to make sure we get these far-reaching plans right for the city.”
Several redevelopment projects are taking place around Broadmead in the next few years. The Galleries will be replaced with 450 flats, community spaces, shops, a 250-bed hotel and student flats with 750 beds. The Debenhams department store will be replaced with 500 apartments, and the Premier Inn on the Bearpit replaced with flats for 422 students.
The City Centre Transport Changes project is funded by the government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement. This money can only be used by the council to improve transport infrastructure, and not for other services.
The consultation is at ask.bristol.gov.uk
By Alex Seabrook, Local Democracy Reporting Service