Bristol is a city which was planned, developed and built with cars as a priority. But this approach, as well as our city’s rapidly growing population, combined with the lack of alternative options, often results in congestion and poor air quality.

This administration has worked to tackle this by providing residents with improved transport alternatives. At a strategic level we’ve improved bus prioritisation, secured Clean Air Zone support and even opened new railway stations. At a local level, we’ve looked to take a Liveable Neighbourhoods approach that improves walking and cycling choices making spaces safer.

Retrofitting changes to car dominated spaces can be a challenge, and can have negative consequences for some people – but it can also positive benefits for areas by making other transport choices better, more green space or improved air quality. Acknowledging that tension has been a core part to our approach to community engagement over several years to design a scheme.

We’re proud to announce that, after this extensive co-design and consultation with local residents since 2022, we will be moving ahead and trialling a liveable neighbourhood scheme in parts of St George, Redfield and Barton Hill. The trial scheme will likely be installed later this summer. In the meantime, 15 cycle hangars are set to be installed on 14 roads across the project area.

This will see measures, such as modal filters, traffic calming, pocket parks and bus gates, installed as part of a trial. If successful, the trial measures would be replaced with permanent infrastructure that would also include extra street lighting, new crossings with traffic signals, sections of cycle track and street trees. 

The trial will aim to deliver a safe, healthy, inclusive, and attractive environment where everyone can breathe clean air, have access to better quality green spaces, and feel a proud of their area.

Community feedback, gathered during two rounds of public engagement, sits at the heart of the plans we’ve developed. Many people said that they love living in this part of east Bristol but some worry about road safety, air pollution, and want more places to connect as a community – we ran a second engagement exercise.

This involved presenting a range of measures, such as pocket parks, street lighting, cycle lanes and new road layouts, in a design toolkit that could be used to address some of these concerns.

By hosting workshops and online interactive maps, people plotted where they would like to see these measures introduced on streets across the pilot area. The results are available in the engagement report. We have now completed the statutory Traffic Regulation Order process which allows us to move forward.

It was disappointing that a local opposition councillor could not publicly endorse the pilot project and investment in the area. It’s always easier to support things in principle rather than delivery in practice.

We know that making a scheme like this happen requires ambition to get things done.

Other British cities with liveable neighbourhoods have seen positive results. While not every scheme worked, the vast majority are still in place. Other cities such as York and Birmingham are seeing high level of support for schemes already implemented.

The East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood pilot sits alongside eight years of work to improve bus journey reliability and encourage walking, wheeling and cycling, creating a healthier and connected city.

This includes our work pedestrianising the Old City and Cotham Hill; completing Portway Park & Ride, Bristol’s first new train station in almost a century; delivering Ashley Down Station; and segregated cycle paths on key travel routes across the city.

However, to completely meet the challenges Bristol faces, our city needs a mass transit system that is segregated and reliable, with underground sections where necessary to avoid major road closures. We have paved the way for others to get this done.