Rees envisages ‘chaos’ on Bristol roads without underground

Marvin Rees says that there will be “chaos” on Bristol’s roads if the city gets an overground-only mass transit system.

The mayor has reiterated that Bristol needs to build underground sections of railway in the densest and most crowded areas of the city “or fail again”.

Rees says “the overground-only mass transit plan being brought forward by the metro mayor would close huge chunks of the city, bringing chaos to our road network”.

It comes as a publication date of June 20 2024 has been revealed for Rees’ autobiography, which will be called My City and published in hardbook by Pan Macmillan.

Writing on his latest mayoral blog, Rees asked: “Do you want to see large swathes of Gloucester Road (A38) and Church Road/Two Mile Hill (A420) close? Or have you just given up on having a mass transit option for Bristol, risking us being left lurching along behind other cities both economically and environmentally.

“Are you happy to just keep being unhappy about the buses or the traffic or the delays to your journey?

“That’s the question we are now asking the people of Bristol, of the city region and, yes, of the metro mayor and WECA.

“There are now two choices if Bristol is to have a segregated mass transport system to transform the way people move around the city. Going underground in the densest and most crowded areas or pursuing an alternative overground-only plan that shuts large areas of main roads, some for a few years and some forever.

“The debate you are seeing unfold in the press between Bristol and the region is that stark. It is not as some commentators would contend: a political debate that’s holding us back. In reality, it’s actually a question of ambition for Bristol or more of the same old mediocrity of leadership that our city has historically suffered from.”

A tram in Bordeaux is named after its twin city of Bristol, but mayor Marvin Rees says trams are not the answer to Bristol’s transport woes – photo: Marvin Rees

Rees said that segregation “is a key element” of any future mass transit network for Bristol.

“Simply put, the city has no room for many overground train lines, miles more bus lanes or free space for trams. The decision is stark: go underground or fail again…

“We must build it without disrupting our city’s roads, driving traffic including HGVs onto smaller roads, or closing large parts of the city, wrecking our economy and driving people into isolated communities…

“It is Bristol’s turn. It is Bristol’s time. We must go underground in the densest areas or else we cannot deliver a segregated, reliable, fast transport system that people will use in big numbers.

“Do not be fooled by the argument that it’s too expensive. A leaked WECA report said it was £18 billion. That report was written without any detailed design and made substantial false assumptions. The cost is actually much lower if managed correctly.

“Bristol deserves the investment that London and more than 200 other cities around the world have already delivered.

“We need ambition. We have the opportunity now to transform the way we move around our city or miss out forever.”

Main photo: Martin Booth

Read next:

• Overground not underground, or overground with underground?
• Critics of Bristol underground plan need to ‘stop talking the city down’
• Metro mayor says Bristol will never get an underground

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