Campaigners fight for Brislington Greenway, not ‘another polluting road’

Currently overgrown and a haven for wildlife, the former Brislington Railway Line could be tarmacked and turned into a highway under council plans to ease congestion.

But a group of campaigners and residents are fighting for a greener alternative.

They have slammed proposals to build another “polluting road” and argue the route that used to link Bristol docks to the coal fields of North Somerset should be transformed into a safe walking and cycle path for the benefit of the wider community.

“We all know that building roads creates more traffic – it will make congestion worse and pollution worse. It just seems crazy,” says Nicholas Davies of Bristol Cycling Campaign.

He, along with many residents, have got behind the vision for a Brislington Greenway and a petition calling on Bristol City Council to abandon plans for the Callington Road link has gained more than 1,000 signatures to date.

But the council argues that building another highway will help rebalance traffic in the area, ease congestion, reduce air pollution and enable them to improve public transport.

Jos Clark, Lib Dem councillor for Brislington and cyclist Andrew Varney (main picture), along with members of Sandy Park Road Improvement Neighbourhood Group (SPRING), launched a campaign to bring the fallow route back to life before the new link road plans materialised.

It was in the West of England Local Authority (WECA) and Bristol City Council’s joint transport study that the line was identified as a suitable site for a new road.

Varney and other campaigners say it would be madness to destroy one of the last green spaces in Brislington and argue the key to solving the city’s transport problems is to create better alternatives.

“Andrew and I both feel that another road will not solve congestion and will not make a difference, but putting a cycle way in will encourage people to cycle,” Clark told Bristol24/7.

“Over our side of the city, the number of people who cycle are not high. A road is not going to solve the traffic problems, it will just shift and probably increase them – all the evidence shows that putting in more roads actually increases traffic.”

Campaigners want to transform the overgrown green space into a cycle and walking route

Davies agreed, adding that the Brislington Greenway would go a long way to joining up the Whitchurch Railway Path and, in time, could be as good, if not better than, the Bristol to Bath Railway Path.

The council’s aspiration is to build a road with segregated cycle and walking space, but Clark argues that the width of the line, which is dotted with bridges, does not have enough room for pedestrians and bikes to travel safely alongside the road.

Mhairi Threlfall says one of the problems is that Bristol does not have enough road space

Speaking about the proposed link road, Mhairi Threlfall, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said: “The joint local transport plan will go out to consultation in July and that will be an opportunity for people to feed into it.

“We are undertaking a feasibility study at the moment. The joint study is a high level technical study that came up with a number of options based on technicalities – the feasibility study will give us more information.

“One of the key things in Bristol is that we physically don’t have enough road space and that’s why things like am underground scheme are coming to the fore.”

The council says a link road could help ease congestion on the busy Bath Road

The council claims it cannot implement a cycle route along the green corridor as it doesn’t own all of the land and needs to develop a full detailed scheme before land can be purchased.

A council spokesperson said: “We are taking a strategic approach to planning transport in the city and are planning a series of interventions to alleviate pressure in certain key areas.

“The link road would enable the introduction of a new, nearly completely segregated rapid transit system on the A4 by reallocating some existing road space from general traffic to only bus or local traffic use.

“This will help the area cope with the impact of future residential developments and improve local journeys in this area.”

Jon Usher, head of partnerships for Sustrans, told Bristol24/7 that maintain the land for sustainable transport would be the first preference, adding: “We do kind of understand the local authority’s position in terms of wanting to increase public transport options in Bath Road.

“If there is a road to be built on that Callington Road site, it needs to have quality walking and cycling infrastructure built in from the beginning.

“We would need to see an improvement in public transport.”

Read more: ‘Rapid transport on the railway path is the wrong option’