Great Western Coffee Shop

Bristol's Temple Gate layout change planned in ^21m revamp

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80203000/jpg/_80203286_brunelmileviewtostation.jpg)
A public square will be created at the entrance of Temple Meads railway station if the proposals are accepted

A main route into Bristol is set to undergo a major revamp under proposals put forward by Bristol City Council.

The Temple Circus roundabout close to Temple Meads station will be built over and replaced with a public square and a more direct route into the city.

A city council spokesman said the new square would "give life to the area day and night".

The council has said the plans are part of a wider ^21m development across the Temple Quarter Enterprise Zone.

Plans for the revamp involve:
- Creating a single wide crossing point to replace three road crossings between the station and Brunel Mile
- Clearer public transport signs and a new Metrobus stop
- New cycle routes to connect with cycle paths being built on Clarence Road, Cattlemarket Road and to the rest of the Bristol cycle network

An exhibition of the plans will be held at the Engine Shed from Tuesday, 13 January until Friday, 30 January.

The deadline for the public consultation is 18 February, 2015.

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80204000/jpg/_80204983_79600cd6-d10d-4588-888d-dbd6a12dbc12.jpg)
Temple Circus roundabout, which is very close to Temple Meads station will be replaced under the plans

(http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/80205000/jpg/_80205424_templegateproposalplan-consultationversionjanuarysda.jpg)
The new road layout will see a road straight into Bristol city centre and new pedestrian crossings

Looks good!

I had fun filling in the survey - took the opportunity to highlight the similarities between the outgoing Temple Circus Gyratory (a failed, expensive, poorly-designed junction which was built despite a significant weight of informed opinion suggesting that a crossroads would have been better) with Metrobus (which the new plans seek to accommodate).

took the opportunity to highlight the similarities between the outgoing Temple Circus Gyratory (a failed, expensive, poorly-designed junction which was built despite a significant weight of informed opinion suggesting that a crossroads would have been better) with Metrobus

Is Metrobus...

• A bus company in Crawley that also runs some Tfl routes? www.metrobus.co.uk
• A type of bus popular in the 1980's? https://flic.kr/p/eb1q4j
• Other?

MetroBust n. A white elephant project designed to compensate for the failure of local authorities to agree on a tram route. Initially promising "A tram-like experience in high quality vehicles on segregated routes", it is now offering a bus-like experience in a bus-like bus on a road-like road, all for a ruinous ^200 million-plus.

Notes to describe context: Its most ardent supporter is Bristol's Cabinet member for Transport Cllr Mark Bradshaw. He has heaped praise on it, describing it as "...a lame duck project with virtually zero public support". Other prominent champions of MetroBust include Mayor George Ferguson, who paid gushing tribute to the scheme, describing it as "Flawed - a project chasing funds rather than a project worthy of funding", before saying he would ask to use the money for rail-based transport projects instead.

Council apologises for extended Temple Circus roadworks

Major works to improve the Temple Circus junction have been extended due to unforeseen problems on the site.

The scheme is now due to be completed in autumn 2019 following a series of unexpected discoveries under the road – unrecorded electricity cables and water pipes as well as uncharted cellars under the roundabout and Victoria Street – all requiring major change to the planned programme. The installation of heat networks, vital to meeting the city’s carbon reduction targets, have also added an extra layer of complexity to the project, making progress slower than expected.

Source: Bristol Temple Quarter (https://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/council-apologises-for-extended-temple-circus-roadworks/)

Heat networks? I knew nothing of that.  Are we having combined heat and power on the site?

I can't speak for FTN, obviously, but it's certainly the first I've heard of it. CHP is generally a good thing (I think) but it's not clear from this https://www.energyservicebristol.co.uk/business/heat-networks/ that the heat network they speak of is actually CHP – it sounds more like district heating.

Maybe that's what Marv has up his sleeve - instead of the Arenal, we're getting a CHP power station fuelled by unicorn farts.

How do energy centres work?
Energy centres work in much the same way a building’s plant room operates – but consolidate the heating (and occasionally power) needs of neighbouring buildings. This approach has several benefits, including:

• Reducing the space required for HVAC (heating and cooling) plant within the buildings themselves, including boilers and associated infrastructure;
  
• More efficient generation of heat and power, due to larger and more constant demands. Not only does this result in cheaper sources of energy for connected buildings, but it can improve local air quality (compared to individual heating systems).
• Larger energy requirements allow a greater choice of technologies – whilst gas boilers are suitable in single homes, some larger and renewable sources of heat and power need larger steadier demands to run efficiently.

The energy centres themselves can be installed in existing buildings, such as the 1MW wood pellet boiler installed in Broughton House just outside the Enterprise Zone. They could also be installed in new bespoke buildings, as is often done in major new developments; or the final option is temporary energy centres, for instance having a portable boiler or combined heat and power (CHP) plant within a refurbished shipping container (similar to those close to Engine Shed by Bristol Temple Meads).

...another BCC offshoot, the Temple Quarter.

I think you could describe it as more-or-less a Quango.

A fizzy orange drink?  :P

Apparently Marv's plan is to relocate Bristol's main railway station to a new location near Stoke Gifford...

He could then use the space freed up for an arena.

He could then use the space freed up for an arena.

It already receives around 10 million passengers a year and this is expected to rise to more than 22 million by 2030,

A fizzy orange drink?  :P

Marv has closed all the cities public loos coz the council cant afford the million or so needed to keep them open, where is he going to get the billions to buy the vacated land from Network Rail / BR Residuary Board, a loan from the Chinese to which he seems to be very fond of cosying up to ?

The 11,000 new homes are presumably going on the land around Avon Street on the east side of the river, which presumably will be a nice little earner for the Council if it owns any of the land.   

It will still be a decent earner even if the council doesn't own it. The Community Infrastructure Levy for inner Bristol is £70 per square metre. That's around £5000 for a modest dwelling, or £55 million for 11,000 modest dwellings. Then there's all that lovely council tax.

Interesting, isn't it - in the fifties and sixties, councils were keen to knock down houses to build light industrial units and roads; any prestigious city was proud of how their really big road systems connected the widget factories to low-density worker hutches in the suburbs. Now they've realised that by replacing those roads and now-derelict sheds with high-density houses, they can raise more revenue and make highly-desirable and liveable places; places that are, in many ways, similar to what was there before... If only someone could think of a way to allow people to move in and out of these areas without needing a car, the job would be a good 'un...

https://youtu.be/zyeMFSzPgGc

The next phase of this junction improvement kicks in on 21 Oct 2018

Looks like traffic coming south down Temple Way wanting to head west on Redcliffe Way can't.  Isn't that the very journey the flyover used to provide?   Not really needed now??  Not sure if that was possible in previous phases either - I normally just hoof it from Temple Meads ...

You've hit the nail very squarely on the head there, grahame.

The route you describe formed part of the Inner Circuit Road, and the Tempry Flyover was to have been the precursor to a much bigger junction which was to be developed as this road was enlarged. In the 1970s it slowly began to dawn in the City Parents (well OK; Fathers in them days) that most of the through traffic they were trying to divert around the city centre was actually quite capable of bypassing the city altogether, mostly via the M5. Others had spotted that the motorway across Queen Square was not as lovely as they had first hoped, nor was the racetrack around The Centre. So ever so quietly they killed the Inner Circuit Road using the Death of a Thousand Cuts. Local traffic now goes a bit further south via Temple Gate, and then heads west along York or Clarence Road (instead of roaring past St Mary Redcliffe church). It was also noted that surrounding Bristol's great ecclesiastical masterpiece with dual carriageways on two sides had not enhanced its setting. One of these - Redcliffe Way - is now in its overdue death throes, leaving the other (Redcliff Hill) looking a bit oversized for a road that connects a smallish car park at one end to an elevated motorway that (thankfully) was never built at the other. It can't be long before that too becomes nothing but a bad memory...

I thought the Inner Circuit Road was killed off when sime pillock on BCC recommended that a shopping centre be built bisecting the road and merging a number of traffic flows into one only for the merged traffic flow to be split further on and causing daily gridlock in the morning and evening peaks.

.... the motorway across Queen Square was not as lovely as they had first hoped ....

Yes, I remember that, but didn't the experts shut off the motorway and divert the outbound traffic around the north and east perimeter roads with inbound traffic round the south and west perimeter roads making those roads a one way square rounabout.

Well not really - the eastern half, from St James Barton to Temple Meads, is still very much in evidence as a major road, despite the diversion around Cabot Circus. Surely the thing that killed it deader as a Ring Roads was - well - removing half of it? The junction at the end of the M32, inevitably, was always heavily loaded; I'm not sure we can reliably state that that the diversion has made things worse. Increasing car ownership has probably been more significant.

No; buses went round the Square for a period but other traffic was diverted down The Grove. This was all done in the context of an overall plan to downgrade the western half of the Inner Circuit Road, which (as I alluded elsewhere) had blighted some of Bristol's most historic areas.

Before Cabot Circus you had traffic from SJB to M32, OM & OMU, now we have the same plus OM/OMU to M32 merging into the previous 3 traffic flows with god knows how many traffic lights and remember we had a pedestrian bridge over the ICR by the Spectrum Building which has been replaced by 2 sets of pedestrian lights and then there is the myriad of pedestrian lights around The Bearpit which slows traffic down despite GF's 20mph speed limit.

There is no access to many of the premises around Queen Square other than their front doors and whilst inbound traffic was recommended to use The Grove, outbound traffic still preferred to use the square because it was quicker than waiting for a gap in inbound traffic from the square to turn right into Prince Street and at the Bascule Bridge waiting to turn right out of The Grove by The Severn Shed.

St James Barton

The Bearpit

refers to a cosy little establishment in Old Market...

Bristol Bear Bar is the UK’s only bespoke bear bar. The venue is a must see for all Bears and non Bears as the atmosphere and staff are friendly and always happy to welcome the many national and international visitors who visit.

Why is it that Bristol is one of those cities that never finishes its road network.  We have the same problem down here in (not so today) Sunny Plymouth!  They are just about to start trying to cure the latest pinch point but it will only end up creating another one somewhere else instead.....

Sorry to hijack your Bristol thread but there are similarities.

Constantly changing road layouts are also a function of growth and changing uses of areas. The Corinium Museum in Cirencester has a map of the Roman city, showing the street plan has remained essentially unchanged for almost two thousand years. Except for the one-way streets, the traffic lights, the parking and parking restrictions, and all the rest of the town that has grown up since then.

They can, travel south over south bound Bath Road bridge do a u-turn onto the north bound Bath Road bridge and thence to Redcliffe Way. A two way flyover over the alignment of the "temporary" flyover would have been the best plan but you know Bristol Politicians, can't see any further than the end of their noses.

I would certainly advise planning your route through the area for new, very carefully.

Whenever family and friends visit from Derby and moan about the congestion in the centre of Bristol, I point out that apart from the parts of the centre that were flattened during the war, Bristol thankfully took the sensible decision to retain most of it's historic structures, unlike Derby.  As soon as I make that comparison, they totally get it, and all say they wish Derby still had the same historical fabric as Bristol thankfully does

Bristol's planners started destroying the city for roads and motorization before the war and the great era of bypasses etc. The dual carriageway through Queen Square (and realignment of King Billy) was built in the 1930s.

Bristol's planners started destroying the city for roads and motorization before the war and the great era of bypasses etc. The dual carriageway through Queen Square (and realignment of King Billy) was built in the 1930s.

In Patrick Abercrombie’s interwar regional planning work a concern to shape the geographic distribution of urban development at a regional level and a sustained concern for rural conservation intersect. His plans tried to configure environmentally sensitive areas into a green regional infrastructure, directing the desired development to take place within the confines of a “conservative” framework. This ambition reflected a keen awareness of the need to cross the distance between legitimate conservation concerns and the constructive development of future opportunities, trying to make use of the growing public consensus regarding rural conservation as a concrete force within the planning process.

First I've heard of Abercrombie, so I googled. I found a reference to "the Western Chapter of Architects' proposal (1944)" sweeping away everything between Bristol Bridge and the cathedral in a book about Bristol, and this:
http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0739456X04270369

Bli**y that's a bit of a mouthful. :o

...a book about Bristol...

But look what's been happening in the last 30 years: Queen Square and College Green are now superbly restored, and while The Dibleys were subverting their MetroBus Millions to build long-dreamed-of road schemes, Bristol used their bit to turn The Centre from a traffic system into something like a public plaza.

Interested?

The final scheme will look a lot like this:

(https://i2.wp.com/www.bristoltemplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Temple-Gate-Aerial-bridge2.jpg?ssl=1)

Cabinet decision advances regeneration of Temple Quarter

Plans for the redevelopment of a prominent area in the Temple Quarter took a step forward this week with the Bristol City Council Cabinet decision to approve the Joint Development and Land Agreement for Engine Shed 2, Temple Square and Station Approach.

The decision paves the way for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Temple Circus site, a goal the council has been seeking since 2008. The scheme aims to create a first class welcome to Bristol for passengers arriving into Temple Meads and will improve links between the station and city centre. It also opens up new land for employment space – contributing to the council’s ambitious targets for creating jobs in the Enterprise Zone.

As part of this, there are plans for the George & Railway building to be transformed into Engine Shed 2, providing follow-on space from the original Engine Shed for rapidly growing companies.  The Cabinet decision authorises use of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to enable redevelopment of the neighbouring Grosvenor Hotel building, should ongoing negotiations with the current owners fail.

Councillor Craig Cheney commented:

I'm sure the George and Railway was closed when I moved to Bristol in 1977. So about time, although given Bristol's track record, this announcement probably means that things like Engine Shed 2 are about to go out of fashion.

Significant progress has been achieved on the Temple Circus scheme this year and works will continue in the New Year, with the project on track to be completed in autumn 2019.

From Monday 7 January, work will start on junction improvements at the Bath Bridges roundabout. To allow space for contractors to work safely, Clarence Road will be closed to eastbound traffic for approximately 12 weeks while these improvements are underway. Traffic will be redirected via York Road but drivers are advised to allow extra time for their journey, or plan an alternative route if possible.

Clarence Road will remain open for westbound traffic during the day throughout these works. However, there will be night works taking place on 7-11 January (inclusive) and 14-15 January, meaning the road will be closed in both directions from 8pm to 6am on these dates.

Full article: https://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/temple-gate-update/

Are they Altering this to move the station parking to the rear of brunels train shed to make it back into platforms.

I'm sure the George and Railway was closed when I moved to Bristol in 1977. So about time, although given Bristol's track record, this announcement probably means that things like Engine Shed 2 are about to go out of fashion.

One day they may actually finish this project !
It's amazed me that for 18+ months now, little sections have been worked on then for some reason rather than finish it they move onto another area, surely it would have been easier to work on a section, complete it and move on?

All we need now is the old 'temporary' flyover to be brought back into service to access Redcliffe Way from Temple Way again!  ;)

I always used that route before to get to Whapping Wharf / Spike Island, and sometimes onto Bedminster

Redcliffe Way (Policies Map site KS10) will be suitable for a residential led development, supported by a mix of uses including offices, community infrastructure, leisure uses and culture / tourism uses, which may include hotel uses. An element of retail will be acceptable subject to consideration of its impact on other designated shopping areas. The development will be expected to provide:
Improved pedestrian and cycle routes between Temple Meads and Queen Square and between Redcliffe and Bedminster;
Residential development to encourage a stable, mixed residential population, including family housing and affordable housing;
A significantly improved setting for St. Mary Redcliffe church, improved links between north and south Redcliffe through the removal of the existing roundabout and the realignment of roads, and improved links between south and west Redcliffe through the redevelopment of Redcliff Hill;
An alignment for the proposed Bristol MetroBus route;
The reuse and sensitive restoration of the Grade II listed Thomas Chatterton’s house and school;
Enhancements to the quality and accessibility of the network of green spaces in the area;
High architectural and environmental design standards to contribute to the placemaking objectives for the area and the sustainability of the area;
A reduction in the impact of traffic on the area.

Source: Bristol Central Area Plan (https://www.bristol.gov.uk/documents/20182/34540/BCAP%20Adopted%20March%202015%20-%20Main%20Document%20&%20Annex%20-%20Web%20PDF.pdf/d05a0c22-ab91-4530-926a-f26160ab72a5)

Redcliffe Way's "wastelands of car parking and SLOAP" are also home to quite a few people in the flats there.

And I note that both Way and Hill are to remain dual carriageways, which is kind of disappointing.

I've seen the new kerbs they've installed for the central reservation!

As for the area between Redcliffe Way and Portwall Lane, yes it's kind of empty – sometimes it's good to have a bit of open area in a city but it could be more attractive.

New bus stops to open at Temple Gate this weekend
(https://i0.wp.com/www.bristoltemplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/New-bus-stops-TG_Sept.png?fit=794%2C485&ssl=1)

First Bus September service changes will start operating from 00:01 on Sunday 15 [Sept 2019 - Ed] and will feature new bus stops at Temple Gate.

The new stops at Temple Gate will be on Redcliffe Way (T3) and Victoria Street (T7) shown on the map above. These stops add to the new northbound Metrobus stop (T2) on Temple Gate and the westbound stop on Recliffe Way (T4) that opened in July.

Details of the services at each stop are provided below:

Temple Meads Stn (T1)

1: Broomhill – Cribbs (towards Broomhill)
2: Stockwood – Cribbs (towards Stockwood)
22: Computershare Service (towards Computershare)
X39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bristol)
39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bristol)
91: Hengrove – City Centre (towards Centre)
92: Hengrove – City Centre (towards Centre)
177: Midsomer Norton – Bristol City Centre (towards Midsomer Norton)
178: Radstock – Bristol City Centre (towards Radstock)
376: Street – Bristol City Centre (towards Street)
668: Peasedown St John – Broadmead (towards Peasdown St John)
Bris: Brislington Park & Ride

Temple Meads Stn (T2)

91: Hengrove – City Centre (towards Centre)
92: Hengrove – City Centre (towards Centre)
177: Midsomer Norton – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
178: Radstock – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
376: Street – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
668: Peasedown St John – Broadmead (towards Centre)
Bris: Brislington Park & Ride

Temple Meads Stn (T3)

22: Computershare Service (towards Computershare)
X39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bath)
39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bath)
349: Keynsham – Bristol (towards Keynsham)
672: Blagdon – Bristol (towards Blagdon)
Bris: Brislington Park & Ride

Temple Meads Stn (T4)

22: Computershare Service (towards Centre)
X39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bristol)
39: Bath – Bristol (towards Bristol)
349: Keynsham – Bristol (towards Bristol)
462: Bristol Science Park- Temple Meads (*both directions)

Temple Meads Station (T5)

8: Temple Meads Circular (Via Clifton)
9: Temple Meads Circular (Via Redland)
72: UWE- Temple Meads (towards UWE)
Hospital free bus: Temple Meads via BRI

Temple Meads Station (T6)

70: UWE – Temple Meads Station (towards Temple Meads)
A1: Bristol Airport – Bristol Bus Station (*both directions)
AG1: Ashton Gate Special Service (*operating on match days only)
73: Cribbs – Temple Meads Station (towards Temple Meads)

Temple Meads Stn (T7)

1: Broomhill – Cribbs Causeway (towards Cribbs)
2: Stockwood – Cribbs Causeway (towards Cribbs)
512: Totterdown/Bedminster – Broadmead (towards Broadmead)

Temple Gate (T8)

8: Temple Meads Circular (Via Clifton)
9: Temple Meads Circular (Via Redland)
72: UWE- Temple Meads (towards UWE)
177: Midsomer Norton – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
178: Radstock – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
376: Street – Bristol City Centre (towards Centre)
Bris: Brislington Park & Ride
Port: Portway Park & Ride

Temple Gate (T9)

177: Midsomer Norton – Bristol City Centre (towards Midsomer Norton)
178: Radstock – Bristol City Centre (towards Radstock)
376: Street – Bristol City Centre (towards Street)

Redcliff Way (R5)

70: UWE – Temple Meads Station (towards Temple Meads)
73: Cribbs – Temple Meads Station (towards Temple Meads)

For details of the wider changes to services and timetables across the city please see the First Bus (https://www.firstgroup.com/bristol-bath-and-west/news-and-service-updates/news/major-investment-and-extra-capacity-coming) website.

And how this is going to confuse visitors. Before the change all the buses stopped opposite the station approach road. That stop has been removed and now pax have to take their pick of three, T2 or T4 or T7.

I hope visitors are successful in catching either the X39 or 39 from T1 towards Bristol someone didn't perform proof reading very well, another howler from Bristols lreaders ?

Getting to Temple Meade by bus has for years been a dog's dinner for non citizens. It's a matter of knowning which stop is the closest from wherever you come from on whichever route. Surely a Temple Meads bus service should have a less esoteric system? It does seem that Bristol transport planners have a disregard for a transport hub at a, errrm, transport hub.

Quite. If you are at the Centre and want to get to Temple Meads, you have a choice of catching the numbers 8 and 9 in one direction or the X39 (and presumably others) going in the opposite direction. Although the former are signed for Temple Meads, I find it is usually quicker to catch the latter to the foot of the approach road.

Bristol was actually a pioneer of clear, consistent on-street mapping....

Quite. If you are at the Centre and want to get to Temple Meads, you have a choice of catching the numbers 8 and 9 in one direction or the X39 (and presumably others) going in the opposite direction. Although the former are signed for Temple Meads, I find it is usually quicker to catch the latter to the foot of the approach road.

For months For Sale hoardings were in place on the former W.H.Smiths distribution centre and I continuously said the council should buy the site and build a Bus Station / Hub there with an entrance / exit to the station via the tunnel / passageway that leads to / from the station subway to the roadway in front of the Bristol and Exeter House. I would also advocate routing all country services via Temple Meads and the City Centre whilst continuing to terminate at the Bus Station

I can advice that Policy CC1 of the Bristol Local Plan (1997) is the main planning policy against which any development proposals for sites around Temple Meads will need to be judged.

This can be viewed on the Council's website.

You can see that the thrust of this is to ensure the delivery of development that supports the establishment of transportation interchange facilities, which can include, bus, rapid transit, water borne movement and improved pedestrian movement along with car parking facilities.

The extent to which the land at Plot 6 will contribute to this policy requirement is unknown at this point in time.

Bristol Temple Meads Station will be enhanced as a major transport interchange. The development of sites adjoining the station to the north will be expected to accommodate this interchange function.

The 'Bristol Legible City' initiative was indeed ground-breaking, and has been emulated elsewhere because it did what it sets out to do very well. Details are here: https://www.bristollegiblecity.info/

The 'Legible City' maps are very much aimed at pedestrians, so they show bus stop locations but don't show bus routes - too much information can be as bad as not enough. Producing clear maps is not easy, and no map can show everything.

What a work of fiction that is...

Station redevelopment plans will see Temple Meads become a modern integrated regional transport hub. This will include enhancing the connectivity of Bristol Temple Quarter. This improved connectivity means a new approach to development and renewal beyond the station area into a better connected St. Philip’s Marsh can be brought forward.

...  . The answer was, "It hasn't been decided yet". I didn't let on to the consultant team who are the experts that there is a third option. Walk all the way past a 10 coach train to the buffer stop on platform 0, cross the pedestrian walkway past the buffer stop for platform -1 (minus one) ...

If there will be more platforms accessed via the subway, presumably there will be more passengers using it. Are there any plans to install a second lift?

Must sign off now or I'll miss my 07.45 m3x MetroBus departure for its scheduled 40 minute journey to the City Promenade but I'm not hopeful of the schedule being achieved but I hope not a repeat of yesterdays 1 hour 50 minutes journey.

Spotted an item on the very excellent roads.org.uk about the Army and Navy Flyover, in Chelmsford (https://www.roads.org.uk/blog/what-goes-must-come-down)... an interesting read, I think. Like the erstwhile Redcliffe Flyover, it was designed as a temporary fix ahead of a planned major new junction, and like its Redcliffe sibling the new road happened somewhere else. Another similarity is that the local authority is having a hard time explaining why it has to go, and why it won't be replaced.

"This is an emergency situation," according to the council's deputy leader Cllr Kevin Bentley, "and I would ask for patience and understanding during this challenging time." He has also bravely pledged that he will "not place any Essex resident in danger". If you listen carefully you can hear his superhero cape rippling in the breeze.

At long last Essex Man joins the Marvel Universe.

"Sadly it's actually a joint working group involving the council, a firm of consulting engineers, local residents and the city's MP who have spent the last year holding meetings to talk about how bad the traffic is"

That shining beacon of local journalism that is Bristol Live reports that the end may be in sight for the long over running road works around Temple Gate/Temple Circus. The latest estimate is for December 16.  Article link below:

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/new-date-announced-temple-circus-3580520

I haven't driven through it in the morning, but things seem to be much more fluid.

Don't you mean 'flooded?'  :o

It took Toby Wells, an engineer, two and a half times longer to get from Bath Bridge to Temple Way using Bristol City Council’s new Temple Gate cycle route than it did sticking to the road – clocking in respectively at 6 minutes 14 seconds and 2 minutes 24 seconds.

Wells wrote: “Notice that on the road, once you get going it's green all the way through. The lights are synchronised to and adjusted by the flow of cars.

“For the ped/cycle crossings it's the opposite – either they are never green until button push (i.e. stop EVERY time), or they are specifically phased so you have to cross one junction in 2 goes, every time. Right of the vid is my no. of button pushes, and I was lucky at some!

“Also the sheer number of transitions between sharing/segregated is ridiculous. It's confusing and dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists,” he added, saying it “will undoubtedly lead to conflict.”

It's not just done badly, it's done expensively badly

There are some very odd bits around the new design, there is a very short cycle lane outside the pub that comes and goes from nowhere, when cycle lanes coming into Bristol down the Bath / Wells Road are on the other side of the road

The Temple Meads roadworks have FINALLY finished
It's a Christmas miracle!

[...]

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: "We are very pleased to share that our contractors have completed a phased opening of Temple Gate which marks the end of works there.

"We would like to thank the public for their patience during the course of this project, which will improve the journeys of millions of people who use all forms of transport through the area every year, and contribute to the challenge of keeping the city moving.

It was not all finished at Temple Meads at the weekend. The roads themselves were all finished but not all the pavements and cyclepaths.

A lot of the area behind the old Grosvenor Hotel building, between that and Redcliffe Way, was still fenced off. I haven't been back there since then so hopefully it's been cleared now. I can't remember if it looked finished, just that it was still fenced off.

A lot of the area behind the old Grosvenor Hotel building, between that and Redcliffe Way, was still fenced off. I haven't been back there since then so hopefully it's been cleared now. I can't remember if it looked finished, just that it was still fenced off.

The timing of the pedestrian crossing going from the Grosvenor hotel to the Temple Meads side (comes out next to the car park) is woeful. It prioritises cars way to much.

As one who regularly fulminates about the glacial pace of rail improvement projects, I have to say that Bristol's efforts to squeeze out the private motor car are even more frustrating. Over 20 years since the Inner Circuit Road ceased to exist, we are still building huge roads that route massive amounts of traffic through the most sensitive parts of town. Meanwhile, while cyclists choose whether to stay on the main road and pass Temple Meads in 2 minutes or use expensive new cycle lanes that allow them to get through in over 6, pedestrians watch the cars (and minutes) pass by and hope they still have time to get to the other side of the road to catch their train of bus...

Volocopter is planning shorter journeys from bespoke Voloports and by 2035 aims to have dozens of these across Singapore, able to handle 10,000 passengers a day.

I can't help wondering if we might look for a third dimension to solve this?   From The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50096640) earlier today, and what comes to Singapore in 2035 could come to Bristol in the following few years.

I can't help wondering if we might look for a third dimension to solve this?   From The BBC (https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-50096640) earlier today, and what comes to Singapore in 2035 could come to Bristol in the following few years.

The timing of the pedestrian crossing going from the Grosvenor hotel to the Temple Meads side (comes out next to the car park) is woeful. It prioritises cars way to much.

Just before Christmas I was stood for a good 2-3 minutes waiting for the green man to apear. It meant my walk for a certain train went from reasonably leisurely to somewhat rushed. There isn't even a central reservation so it's more difficult to take your life into your own hands and cross halfway. Probably worth walking a bit further to cross opposite the station ramp instead.

The one with the countdown display? It's good in that it's much easier to see the green man than on the normal-for-Bristol display on the post by your elbow. Shame that green man is only lit for 7 seconds (I timed it) and, yes, an even bigger shame you have to wait so long for it.

The timing of the pedestrian crossing going from the Grosvenor hotel to the Temple Meads side (comes out next to the car park) is woeful. It prioritises cars way to much.

Just before Christmas I was stood for a good 2-3 minutes waiting for the green man to apear. It meant my walk for a certain train went from reasonably leisurely to somewhat rushed. There isn't even a central reservation so it's more difficult to take your life into your own hands and cross halfway. Probably worth walking a bit further to cross opposite the station ramp instead.

I assume that you still went up the incline when you had crossed the road though?
Otherwise you were lengthening your walk up to the station anyway going through the Temple Quay entrance

I can't help wondering if we might look for a third dimension to solve this?   

If 'dystopia' was a word, then a sky full of drones and air-Ubers would define it perfectly.