Campaigners fighting the controversial plan to close Crews Hole Road to eastbound traffic in the New Year have come up with a plan of their own.
Well over 1,000 people have now signed an online petition which criticises Bristol City Council’s experimental plan to close Crews Hole Road, pictured, to eastbound traffic and Beaufort Road/The Avenue to westbound traffic.
They say it will effectively make everyone use a giant one-way circuit which will cause headaches for local residents and businesses, as well as thousands of commuters.
Among the objectors is a police officer who speaks of his concern about the impact the council’s scheme could have on emergency response times.
The council wants to make the road safer for cyclists and pedestrians but there has been widespread condemnation as it will mean long detours. Bristol East MP Kerry McCarthy has written to Mayor George Ferguson, questioning the city council’s traffic scheme for the Crews Hole area as she is concerned it is not the “right solution” to road safety problems.
The campaign group SCHAR (Save Crews Hole Access Road) set up to fight the council’s plan, which they were unaware of until they read about it in The Week In last month, have revealed details of their alternative proposal.
They say they have submitted it to the St George Neighbourhood Partnership and received a “positive response”.
The SCHAR campaigners say the proposal is a “win-win” solution because it will increase safety on the road without blocking access for locals or increasing emissions. They liaised with the sustainable transport charity Sustrans to produce it.
The scheme aims to reduce traffic speeds with speed tables and other traffic calming measures, to provide a safe cycle route along Conham Road and safe crossing points for pedestrians.
A meeting is due to take place on Wednesday 6th November 6 at 7pm at the Woodwise Academy in Crews Hole Road for people to talk about both the city council’s scheme and the SCHAR scheme with council officials and councillors.
One of the recent comments on the petition is from a police officer who says: “I access the area due to where my parents live and am also a police officer in the area; the potential increase to response times may have an effect on the residents and affect the level of service provided by other emergency services in the area due to the longer route that has to be taken and the increase in traffic volume on the affected alternative routes.”
Another objector wrote: “I am sick of this council being hell bent on making this city permanently gridlocked.”
