Carol Freeman responds to BWA’s invitation to suggest examples of poor walking infrastructure. BWA will collect other examples and will then choose its top few examples for campaigning.
Queen’s Rd/Old Habitat location
Hundreds, possibly thousands, of students and others walk down through the back roads of Clifton and try to cross Queen’s Rd opposite the old Habitat every day. They are crossing two lanes of angry traffic in both directions, plus one cycle lane. They weave their way through in large numbers. The only way to avoid crossing here is to make a significant walking detour to the pedestrian crossings at the Triangle itself, but this is a walking distance too far for most of them. The University I believe does have a sustainable transport policy and all these people are doing their best by walking to work or study, should they not have their walking desire line respected and catered for in the traffic planning at that point?
Park St
People shopping or eating or visiting on Park St do need to be able to cross more easily. I don’t think the 20mph limit has been enough to really make this road easily crossable. Downhill traffic, especially buses and lorries, can be intimidating as the momentum can feel worrying. Surely there is a case for more pedestrian crossing points on Park Street? And is this also not the case on the Triangle/Queen’s Rd, where pedestrians have to cross three lanes of traffic including many buses?
Henleaze Rd/Southmead Rd/Henleaze Lake area
Henleaze Lake has 2000 members who are encouraged to walk and cycle to the Lake, and many of them do. The bottom of Southmead Rd is, astonishingly for a residential area, a dual carriageway with two lanes in both directions, and is outside the Henleaze 20mph zone. It is nigh on impossible to cross this road here to get to the bus stop, from either direction, in the rush hour, and it’s dangerous at all times. Pedestrians approaching the Lake via either of the small roundabouts at the bottom of Southmead Road are badly served with no useful crossing points. Worst of all, there is a new old people’s block recently completed on the roundabout at the Henleaze Rd/Southmead Rd junction, and road alterations have been made, including putting a crossing there (which doesn’t help the issues I have raised), and no doubt these road improvements were paid for with Section 106 money, but they don’t improve the situation outlined here at all, which is a great wasted opportunity.
I am in complete agreement with you. As a resident of Glenwood Road I have the same problem with crossing the dual carriage way. I am amazed the people in charge of our roads have not thought a crossing is vital here considering the number of elderly people and young families who live in the Lake Road area. Not to mention visitors to the lake. I intend to contact my local councillor about this matter.
Southmead Road, particularly the section by the BAWA field, is dangerous for pedestrians. I would avoid it, especially at night. There should be a pelican crossing sited on this section of the Road as a priority