City Centre

Our vision for Bristol is for it to be a well-connected city where people can move around efficiently with more transport options that are accessible and inclusive to all.
 
This sustainable and resilient transport network would support our vibrant independent local centres and neighbourhoods, while connecting people to an attractive and thriving city centre.
 
The five areas that make up the city centre project include:

• Bond Street
• Broadmead
• Temple Way
• Redcliffe Way
• Bedminster Bridges

These transport projects will:  

• Transform public spaces, especially in the Broadmead area, making them more pedestrian-friendly and available for community activities. Over time there will be landscaped areas and new seating, cycle parking and public art.  
• Change bus routes and improve bus infrastructure to make public transport more efficient and reliable.
• Improve active travel options, enhancing walking, wheeling, and cycling routes throughout the city centre, promoting healthier and more sustainable travel options.
• Allow a rapid transit service from Long Ashton Park & Ride to travel quickly through the city centre and on to UWE’s Frenchay campus, providing a new cross-city rapid transit route which is largely separated from general traffic and slower local buses.  

We are proposing changes to roads in the city centre that would make it possible to operate a new rapid transit route from the southwest to the northeast of the city via the city centre. This is part of a larger ambition for a rapid transit network of fast, frequent, reliable, high-quality services running across the city.

The city centre project would make the new, faster route possible through the city centre by connecting Commercial Road in Bedminster to Newfoundland Circus at the end of the M32 via Redcliff Hill, Redcliffe Street and Union Street.

It would speed up journey times with new bus lanes, bus gates, a two-way rapid transit-only route on Union Street, and new bus-only junctions.

Proposals to make the rapid transit route through the city centre physically possible include:

• The Bond Street project would add new bus lanes to make the rapid transit route fully segregated.
• The Broadmead project would make Union Street two-way and introduce a new junction.
• The Redcliffe Way project would remove traffic from the route, using bus gates, to enable faster journey times.
• The Bedminster Bridges project would change the layout of the roundabout so buses wouldn’t needed to go around it but could turn right onto Commercial Road when heading out of the city centre from Redcliff Hill.

Proposals for the almost fully segregated rapid transit route are for it to travel between Long Ashton Park & Ride and UWE’s campus in Frenchay.

These proposed changes would also support our long-term aspiration for a new Park & Ride site on the M32 in the northeast of the city that a rapid transit service could use.