Construction work will get underway this summer on highway improvements to Muller Road, including installing a 24-hour bus lane to help make bus journeys quicker and more reliable.
With serious investment in Lockleaze that will see around 1,000 new homes and a new secondary school built, we need to make sure our local transport network can keep up with this level of growth.
Muller Road runs alongside Lockleaze and is well used by people travelling from north Bristol to the M32 and our city centre. It’s a busy road that often gets congested, so back in 2019 we carried out community engagement on how to improve bus journeys and make walking and cycling safer along this route.
Based on this, we have designed a scheme and will start work in August on improvements to Muller Road, including the introduction of a bus lane between Downend Road and Ralph Road. This will feature a bus gate to improve priority for buses at the Ralph Road junction. We’ll use a section of land that runs along the entrance to Lidl, which is part of the original planning agreement, to make space for this.
Our plans also include resurfacing Muller Road, between Downend Road and Ralph Road, installing signals at Muller Road’s junction with Ralph Road, and creating modal filters on Springfield Avenue, Draycott Road and Brent Road to stop traffic other than bicycles using them as cut throughs.
These improvements are part of our Lockleaze Sustainable Transport Infrastructure project, which is being funded from the Housing Infrastructure Fund, provided by Homes England.
The project focusses on mitigating the impact that development and growth will have on the local area. It is a considerable investment in our transport infrastructure and one in a series of major transport corridors that we are working to improve.
This is a big project that we anticipate completing in the spring of 2023. As you might expect, it will cause some disruption for anyone travelling through the area.
To make sure our contractors can work as efficiently as possible, Ralph Road will need to close temporarily towards the end of August. The diversion will take you via Ashley Down Road, Gloucester Road, Filton Avenue, and Muller Road.
Some residential roads may close at their junctions with Muller Road while the works take place to avoid traffic using them as rat-runs. There will also be temporary traffic lights in place on Muller Road throughout the works.
We will do all we can to keep disruption to a minimum and make sure the scheme is completed as quickly as possible.
The new bus lane and gate, together with improved walking and cycling infrastructure, will result in better connections for Lockleaze residents and anyone travelling through the area.
By improving the reliability of bus journeys and making walking and cycling safer and more attractive, we are going some way to rebalancing Bristol’s streets, giving people good alternatives to car-use, especially for shorter journeys.
We need everyone to embrace sustainable transport if we are to reduce our carbon footprint and make the air we breathe cleaner, while realising our ambition to create an inclusive and connected city.
Bristolians really care about the environment, and the recent heatwave is a warning sign to us all that we need to work together if we are to reach our city’s aspiration to be net zero by 2030. Work like this is essential to delivering on that commitment.