Major city centre transport schemes to be considered by Bristol council bosses

Plans to deliver a multi-million pound investment in Bristol’s city centre transport network are set to be considered by councillors on the Transport and Connectivity Committee this week.

The committee will be asked to approve three reports on Thursday that outline the next steps for three areas of the Bristol city centre transport corridor project.

The reports include proposals for:

Broadmead area (also known as the Union Street area)
Redcliffe Roundabout
Bond Street
These are three of five locations that make up the council’s city centre transport corridor programme, which also includes Temple Way and Bedminster Bridges Roundabout. These two projects were approved at the last Transport and Connectivity Committee that took place in March.

Cllr Ed Plowden, chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee, said: “It’s exciting to see these transformative projects take shape. The plans for the Broadmead area are about more than improving transport routes and mark the beginning of a huge regeneration of the area that will see new homes and retail and leisure facilities developed.

“In preparation, we need to improve bus routes and create pedestrian-friendly spaces that make it easier and more pleasant to travel actively. Adapting transport routes to meet these future needs is vital, especially as many more people who move into the area will rely on walking, wheeling, cycling, and public transport. This is a significant shift for the area, but it paves the way for our vision of a well-connected city with clean air and plenty of sustainable transport options.

“We have also increased the amount of disabled parking overall, with new bays planned closer to the pedestrianised area, and we will be maintaining the current numbers throughout this ambitious construction programme.”

Committee members will consider a report that proposes submitting a full business case to the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority that seeks £6.25m to build a series of measures to improve active travel and bus priority measures on Redcliffe Roundabout and Redcliffe Way.

Plans include introducing continuous bus lanes, segregated cycleways that link up with the central cycle network, and a bus gate on Redcliffe Street in preparation for a rapid transit service with traffic moving to a new junction at Phippen Street.

If approved, construction work on the Redcliffe Roundabout project is expected to start in 2026 following a public consultation on the planned changes, which is part of the legal process for updating the highway.

Committee members will discuss a second report that proposes submitting a further full business case to the Mayoral Combined Authority that seeks £4.52m to build a series of bus and cycling improvements along Bond Street and the city centre.

Plans include new bus lanes in both directions and creating a segregated cycle route on quieter streets that run alongside Bond Street.

If approved, construction work on the Bond Street project is expected to start in 2026 following a statutory public consultation.

The third report, that comes under the city centre transport corridor programme, asks committee members to approve plans to submit an outline business case to the Mayoral Combined Authority for proposals for the Broadmead and Union Street area and to approve contracting of the works while the full business case is finalised. If approved, this would secure £3.5m for the full business case stage and the remaining £20.8m to complete the construction works.

The proposals for the Broadmead and Union Street area include pedestrianising The Horsefair and Penn Street, rerouting buses with more bus priority, and building 1km of segregated cycle routes. This is in preparation for large-scale regeneration in the area that will see thousands of new homes as well as leisure and retail spaces created.

Changes to the roads include removing most traffic from High Street, Wine Street, Union Street and Newgate and making the Pithay taxi only. Plans also include adding more disabled parking spaces and new taxi ranks.

The Horsefair

Designs have been updated since the public consultation that was held in the summer of 2024.

Main changes include:

Adding more disabled parking closer to the pedestrianised area
Introducing a pedestrian crossing on the eastern arm of the St James Barton Roundabout
Making Bridewell Street one-way southbound to allow more disabled parking bays
Keeping the right turn out of the bus station from Lower Maudlin Street
Adding new loading bays on The Horsefair and a new loading bay on Bond Street
Installing a controlled barrier to The Horsefair and Penn Street to allow deliveries and servicing at set times
Broadmead area – Primark junction option

Plans for a new rapid transit service have also been updated and, rather than create a new service, the preferred option is to extend the current m2 service to the UWE campus in Frenchay and to increase its frequency from every 15 minutes to every 10 to 12 minutes. This boosted m2 service would use the new route through the city centre along Redcliffe Street, High Street, Wine Street and Union Street.

The report sets out that, with construction work programmed to take place to develop the Debenhams site in 2027, plans to create pedestrian friendly ‘garden streets’ along The Horsehair and Penn Street will form part of a separate project that would follow the Debenhams development and deliver the improved pedestrian space enabled by the closure of the road to traffic.

The city centre transport corridor programme is being funded by the UK government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement secured by West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.