FOCUS ON: Ukraine A4 Corridor councillor briefing:
After persistently calling for a briefing on the A4 Corridor Project for months, we finally met with transport officers to discuss the options for this important arterial route. Since last year’s consultation, a long list of around eighty options has been reduced to a shortlist of three. We believe in openness and transparency and so wanted to give you a bit more detail about the three short-listed options. All three will include a package of measures to improve residential areas around the A4 such as removing rat runs and increasing biodiversity in local green spaces. However, our main concern has always been the fate of the former Brislington Railway alignment that runs through Brislington West from Sainsbury to Tesco. We gave this space the name ‘Brislington Greenway’ several years ago. The council has always referred to it as the ‘Callington Road Link’. As we mentioned a few weeks ago, two of the shortlisted options involve road building here, one option does not. Of the two options that include new roads, one proposal is to run a metro-bus service along its entire length together with a segregated footpath and cycle lane. The other option has been nicknamed the ‘half ‘n’ half’ proposal and would have a metro bus service and segregated footpath and cycle lane from Sandy Park to the Bath Road bridge near Lynwood Park and a road for general traffic south of the Bath Road Bridge to Callington Road by Tesco. As you can imagine, these two schemes would require considerable engineering works and would lead to a great deal of disruption during the construction phase. As a result of our discussions with council officers, it seems clear that the preference is for the ‘half ‘n’ half’ option. Around £80m has been earmarked for the Brislington section of the A4 Corridor Project and funding is via the Government’s CRSTS (City Regions Transport Settlement). 24
In order to qualify for this funding, all schemes must be delivered by 2027. Although all three options have pros and cons, we were elected on a platform of opposing the Callington Road Link and we intend to keep that promise. Brislington Greenway planning update: Some of you may have heard that after a lengthy delay, the two planning applications for the Brislington Greenway will finally be coming before the Development Control Committee at its meeting on Wednesday 16 March 2022. This meeting will be held at City Hall, College Green, Bristol, BS1 5TR starting at 2pm. Planning application no. 21/00894/F is for the pedestrian & cycle path between Tramway Road and land to the south of Talbot Road and planning application no 21/03498/F is for the erection of 50 cargo units together with the provision of a cycle and pedestrian route to the East of Tramway Road. Both applications are for a temporary period of 3 years. The two applications are linked as the shipping container development will pay for the entire new active travel corridor from Sandy Park Depot to the scrap metal merchants on Talbot Road. We first called for the temporary use of this site back in 2018 so we are pleased these applications have come forward and we will be supporting them. We are pleased that the overwhelming majority of local residents are also supportive. However, it will come as no surprise that the Council’s recommendation is to refuse both these applications with the principle reason being that this site is safeguarded as a future transport route, namely the Callington Road Link!
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