Great Western Coffee Shop

Recommendation:

That the Director of Legal & Democratic Services be authorised to take all appropriate steps to ensure that the provisions of the City Council of Bristol (Various Roads, Bristol Bridge Area, Central and Hotwells & Harbourside wards, City of Bristol) (Reserved Bus Lanes) (Suspension of Prohibition of Movements) (Suspension of Bus Lane) (Suspension of One Way Traffic) Experimental Order 2020 are made permanent in like terms.

...whilst officers are aware of various petitions that are in general circulation, both for and against the bus lanes, no petitions have been submitted formally to the Council in direct response to the ETRO statutory consultation. Therefore, there are no petitions to formally consider/report in relation to this objection report.

Knowing Bristol City Council, and in light of my scepticism of them, I strongly suspect that decision was taken the day after the bus gate was installed.

Dave

865 applicable submissions were received in response to the above mentioned proposal.
Of these:
527 (61%) were objections, of which 40 expressed some support in principle.
338 (39%) were comments of full support

Local: Bristol City Council
• The One City Plan 2020
• Bristol City Council Corporate Strategy 2018-2023
• Bristol Transport Strategy 2019
• The City Centre Framework 2020
Regional: WECA
• The Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (JLTP4) 2020-2036
• West of England Bus Strategy – June 2020
• West of England Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan 2020-2036
National: Central Government Policy
• Department for Transport - Bus Back Better: National Bus Strategy for England 2021
• Department for Transport - Gear Change: A bold vision for cycling and walking 2020

Cars, vans and lorries will be banned from crossing Bristol Bridge from Saturday as part of a scheme to give priority to buses, cyclists and pedestrians in the city centre.


But less than a month after the temporary closure to cars is made permanent, cars will be allowed back on again as another bridge is repaired.

Work to repair Redcliffe Bascule Bridge Bristol will begin on August 16 and is likely to take around ten weeks.

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Bridge projects in limbo as Cleveland Bridge heads for administration
22 JUL, 2021 BY ROB HORGAN

Councils and infrastructure clients across the country will have woken up to the news that its contractor Cleveland Bridge is heading for administration.

The news broke last evening, when Cleveland Bridge issued a statement confirming that all of its 230 employees had been informed that they faced redundancy.

The statement adds: “HR1 notices have been registered and all 230 staff have been informed about potential redundancies. We are actively taking advice and looking at all opportunities.”

Administrators have also reportedly been called in to start the formal process.

What it means for ongoing projects remains to be seen, with Cleveland Bridge contracted to work on some iconic structures around the country.

Newport Transporter Bridge
Newport City Council appointed Cleveland Bridge to undertake restoration work on the Newport Transporter Bridge 115 years after the firm finished work on building the structure.

The Grade I listed structure – one of only six remaining transporter bridges in the world – was opened in 1906 and its 197m span carries traffic across the River Usk in South Wales in a gondola.

Cleveland Bridge constructed the bridge and was due to carry out work under the latest contract awarded in February.

Work needs to be carried out on the gondola bridge’s cross beams and anchorage housing, as well as replacing rotting timbers and worn anchor pins and cables on the main booms.

The restoration of the bridge began in March but is not scheduled to be complete until the start of next year.

Bristol lifting bridge
Cleveland Bridge recently won the contract to carry out a “substantial refurbishment” of Bristol’s Redcliffe Bridge.

Bristol City Council ringfenced £3M towards the project last year, after a 2016 report conclude that repairs were “urgently required”.

The bridge is part of the floating harbour in Bristol, linking Redcliffe Way to the city centre. It was constructed in 1942, and in 1996 underwent a major electrical and control system refit.

However, the bridge’s condition has since deteriorated, with repairs needed to the bridge’s structure, deck and opening machinery.

The scope of work includes refurbishment of the internal steelwork and bridge parapet, water proofing of the bridge deck, and mechanical and electrical modifications including the removal of the existing gates and machinery and replacing them with rising arm barriers.

Jacobs has also been brought in as design consultants and work was earmarked to take place this summer, pending design approval.

Struggling structural steel firm Cleveland Bridge claimed up to £250,000 in furlough payments in the months leading up to its collapse, government records show.

Records from HMRC show that Cleveland Bridge UK Limited, which employs 221 people, claimed between £125,005 and £250,000 in furlough payments to cover staff who were unable to work for the five months between December 2020 to April 2021.

HMRC data shows that between £25,001 and £50,000 per month had been claimed by Cleveland Bridge UK, however the employment support was not enough to save the business.

Details of furlough claims prior to December have not been published, while claims made after April have not yet been released by HMRC. It is not known if Cleveland Bridge applied for any other coronavirus support from the government.

Cleveland Bridge has been known as one of the leading specialists in its field, working on major projects such as Wembley Stadium, the Queensferry Crossing, the Shard and also as one of the original co-designers of the famous Sydney Harbour Bridge.