South Bristol Ring Road - Briefing

Summary

This Briefing looks at the Ring Road proposals and the reasons given for building it. It identifies the crucial planning decisions to be taken before it becomes a reality. It finds fatal flaws in the case made for a ring road, then finds plenty of further reasons for not building it. It goes on to suggest more sustainable less destructive ways to get around South Bristol.
So it's NO TO A RING ROAD.

The Proposals

In March 2006, Bristol and the other 'West of England' councils agreed to submit their Joint Local Transport Plan (JLTP)to government. It includes an anticipated bid for government money to build a Bristol South Ring Road in three stages:

1. Long Ashton Park & Ride to the A38 (near Kings Head Lane)
   
2. A38 to Hengrove roundabout - apparently through Highridge Green and King Georges Road
   
3. Hengrove roundabout to A4 Hicks Gate - via Hartcliffe and through Green Belt around Whitchurch and Stockwood

On 21st February, BBC Points West had broken the story that plans had been released for the South Bristol Ring Road. No source was quoted. The map briefly posted on their web site showed an identifiable route (photos here) but it was quickly replaced by a diagram. The original map can be seen by the sharp-eyed in the video linked from the news report.

The Ring Road is more than just the local councils' baby - a whole network of other regional and sub-regional quangos and business groups are actively promoting it.

Government Office South West in particular commissioned the 'Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study ' (GBSTS) from consultancy Atkins, whose recommendations (reached with only a token public consultation) included controversial proposals for the South Bristol Ring Road.

Hot on the heels of these comes the draft "Regional Spatial Strategy" (RSS) of the South-West Regional Assembly. This is the master planning document for the whole South-West region - and it too includes the ring road. Following a period of consultation (now closed) the next stage will be an 'Examination in Public' starting 17/4/2007. It is likely that the Inspectors will hear evidence about the Ring Road, because so many objections have been received.

Bristol City Council - whose cabinet wants the Ring Road - concedes that permission and funding will need lots more work and decisions. Perhaps the most important is that they have yet to "examine all possible... non road building options in order to establish that any proposal makes the very best use of public money".

Lets do our best to enlighten them

The case FOR the Ring Road

The case for a Ring Road rests on several theories and assumptions:

• It will ease traffic congestion
• It will provide vital links to Bristol International Airport which plans to expand
• Urban expansion in the area (the city has undertaken to provide around 100,000 new homes to cope with expected growth-induced demand) requires the road
• Regeneration and jobs in South Bristol won't happen without access in the form of the ring road
• It would be a relief west-east link when the motorway system is blocked or gridlocked
• That the downsides to construction are less than the gains

The Flaws in the case

Congestion:

It's too simplistic to say that more tarmac means that traffic will be more thinly spread: experience shows the opposite is true. Even the pro-road GBSTS estimates that their road proposals would lead to a 1% increase in trips, compared with doing nothing. Many transport studies have shown a similar effect, i.e. more roads mean more overall traffic. And the evidence is in front of our eyes - just look at the Newbury Bypass, or at the network of new roads servicing North Bristol.

Significantly, the authors of the Joint Local Transport Plan do not include the Ring Road among their strategies to reduce congestion in central Bristol.

The Airport Link

Another simplistic "benefit" of the Ring Road that doesn't stand up to scrutiny. Certainly, for those with cars planning to reach the airport from the east and north-east, a ring road would be useful - it might even induce people to use it who would otherwise use the dedicated coach service, or travel somewhere else instead.

There's a much wider context to air travel, though. In a world threatened by catastrophic climate change, taking steps to encourage more flying is simply insane. All the impacts of increased damage by the industry must be compensated by even tighter restrictions elsewhere - and we're not beginning to tackle that problem.

Bristol Green Party has submitted its own objections to BIA expansion. Airport expansion cannot be used to justify a ring road - in truth we have to discourage expansion.

As a Relief Road?

Just one picture - King Georges Road in Bishopsworth - provides the answer. King Georges Road is part of the ring road route - try to think of it being used as an alternative route when the motorway's shut!:

Urban Growth

Like it or loath it, the principle of expanding Bristol outwards into the Green Belt has been adopted (see Evening Post report) and welcomed by our business leaders. Close on 100,000 new homes, all of them needing road access.

But that is not a case for a ring road, it just means roads (and much other infrastructure, like schools and shops and public transport) will be needed. It's important that the new settlements should be as self-sustaining as possible, with little need to waste time on travel, but with good access to the city centre for those things that can't be made available close by. A ring road would add nothing to that, and might well make local amenity less viable.

Regeneration

There's an assumption that you can't get jobs unless there's a fancy road system to serve the employing companies. On the back of that, it's assumed that a Ring Road would provide the road system. Neither assumption stands scrutiny - unless the jobs are in warehouse/distribution type industries, which offer little in the way of quality jobs and much in the way of increased traffic.

If development is to provide local employment (and no-one argues against that) then easy access to other districts and counties is hardly significant - it would simply widen the catchment area for labour and increase 'travel to work' journeys. All too often the public are seduced by promises of the hundreds of jobs a new supermarket or warehouse might provide, where in practice they mean a net loss of jobs in that sector, together with increased traffic.

Regeneration in parts of South Bristol is a legitimate goal, and the focus has to be on providing employment and training that meets local needs. It is nonsense to welcome growth that can only be made possible by inward migration and seizure of the green belt to house the new arrivals. It would be all the more unjust where there is already a local community in South Bristol crying out for good quality accessible jobs.

Weighing the pros and cons

The list above shows that there are few if any benefits to be derived from the Ring Road.

But what of the disbenefits? They are very real:

• Local impacts of raised total traffic levels include:

raised ground level pollution and the health costs that go with it

heightened risk of road traffic accidents

division of communities

noise levels in residential areas

impediments to public transport, cycling, and walking

• Far ranging impacts of a Ring Road and its new traffic include:

increases in climate change emissions at a time when they should be reducing

a contribution to the growth of air travel from BIA, with similar effect

further demands on global oil resources

• Major road building in itself means:

taking up land that can otherwise be used for leisure by local people (as most of this route already is)

loss of biodiversity, with ecological and environmental costs

major local disruption in the construction phase,

loss of amenity (views, tranquillity etc.)

planning blight prior to construction

Bristol Green Party is in no doubt that the local disbenefits alone outweigh any benefits of building a ring road. Add in the 'global' disbenefits and there's really no contest.

So what could be better than a ring road?

It's tempting - and true - to say that a 'do nothing' policy would be better for all concerned. But let's be more ambitious than that.

Here we can't deal with all the different issues that have been raised by those trying to make a case for a ring road - most of them specious, as can be seen above. But the ring road itself is about people getting around - so here's what's better than a ring road at getting people around South Bristol.

First, tackle the problem at source. Why do people choose to travel? Because whatever it is they want, they can't get it close by. So it's important to provide for most needs within the community. Everyday shopping, schools, health facilities, post offices, meeting places, libraries - and jobs, of course. No big deal, but it's often neglected as providers seek the economies of scale that go with centralisation, forcing their public to face the nuisance and expense of extra journeys.

Second, make sure transport is available to all - not just those who have cars available 24/7. Much of South Bristol is poorly served by public transport. Orbital bus routes have been axed, the radial routes are generally forced to compete for road space with excessive traffic. If there's road engineering to be done, this is where it can really pay dividends, giving priority to more sustainable travel modes. If the Hengrove Park area is to be major development site (not least with the new general hospital) it must have excellent bus links with the rest of the area.

Third, redress the cost differentials between the car and the bus. (While the cost of running a car has been falling, public transport fares have been rising). In the absence of government action, the City Council should look at charging methods that would discourage driving (and congestion) in the city while helping to fund bus, bike, and pedestrian improvements. Travelling by bus can be made more attractive; the council itself has a bus strategy spelling out how to do it, but it seems to be gathering dust instead of being implemented!

Fourth, review the assumptions behind the plans to expand building in and around Bristol. Ask whether development (or, more important, jobs) can be provided without such a massive building programme to provide for more people coming into the area.

It's not too late to see sense.

Help!

If you find any error of fact on this site, please let us know. We want these pages to be as accurate as we can make them.