There are calls for the experimental through traffic restriction at Bathwick to be halted ahead of the impending six-week closure of North Parade Bridge amid fears that congestion will increase.
Looking down Sydney Place, with the new LTN restriction in place
Bath & North East Somerset Council introduced the trial on Sydney Road at the junction with New Sydney Place last month as part of its Liveable Neighbourhoods (LN) programme, aimed at improving the environment for residents and creating a safe and pleasant route for walking and cycling.
Six bollards prevent drivers from using the residential streets as a cut-through to avoid the A36/Bathwick Street junction, keeping access to homes and businesses from either side.
Motorists now have to follow the A36 around Beckford Road and along Sydney Place, passing the top of Great Pulteney Street.
There was widespread opposition before the scheme was installed, with a petition saying that while the trial would benefit the relatively small number of residents on Sydney Place, it would have a disproportionately negative impact on residents in Bathampton and Holburne Park and the thousands of motorists who use Warminster Road to access Bath.
In a discussion on Facebook about the ongoing “chaos of Bathwick traffic”, one resident drew support when they called for Sydney Road to be reopened before North Parade Bridge over the River Avon closes to vehicles and cyclists from Monday, 20th May. The council will be diverting traffic across Churchill Bridge.
Repairs and investigations will be carried out on Grade II listed North Parade Bridge, with the work expected to take six weeks, subject to findings from initial investigations.
One person responded in the Facebook discussion: “Took me a good 30 minutes plus to get from roundabout (by) Morrisons Daily Bathwick to Cleveland Bridge, traffic nose to tail even along London Road. Agree they need to reopen Sydney Road before North Parade Bridge work.”
Another observed: “Closing roads in Bath always leads to traffic jams everywhere.”
Another queried why cars pumping out fumes in a traffic jam is considered to be a better solution than travelling smoothly down Sydney Road like they did before.
“Only the residents in New Sydney Place end of Sydney Road are benefiting. The residents at the Warminster Road end of Sydney Road are definitely not,” said another person in the discussion.
In response to the calls for Sydney Road to be reopened, Councillor Manda Rigby, cabinet member for Transport at B&NES Council, told the Bath Echo: “We have a well-managed programme of highways works and both of these schemes were considered alongside each other and traffic is being monitored at both locations.
“Of course nobody likes the delays road works create but we do need to carry out maintenance on our network to keep it running.
“A diversion route for the North Parade work has been well publicised which takes traffic over Churchill Bridge and should not impact on the Liveable Neighbourhood trial we have put in place in Sydney Road.”
Grade II* listed Cleveland Bridge, which was built 10 years before North Parade Bridge, closed for what was expected to be three months for repairs in June 2021 but after severe corrosion was discovered in the structure, it only fully reopened to two-way traffic in October 2022.
