Temporary closure of North Road and Nibley Lane

These roads are expected to be closed for cleansing work to be carried out:

• North Road,between Armstrong Way and the bridge over the River Frome, will be closed from 6.00am – 9.00am on 19th April 
• Nibley Lane between Badminton Road and the Holly Hill junction is expected to be closed from 11.30am - 2.30pm on 20th April

Coalsack Lane to close for repairs

Coalsack Lane will be closed from Monday 26th February to allow repair works to be carried out.

Kidney Hill to be closed on Monday

Kidney Hill, Westerleigh will be closed for roadworks all day on Monday 12 February. This is the length of road that runs from the Broad Lane junction (next to what used to be Cornerways Day Nursery) down to the T junction with the main road.

Temporary closure of Henfield Road

South Glos have issued a notice to say that Henfield Road will be closed from Station Road to Ram Hill at some point on or after 24th January. The closure will only operate while signs are in place and is expected to take place over one night between 8.30pm and 4am.

Night time closures of Nibley Lane

For five nights from 6th November, Nibley Lane between Badminton Road and Westerleigh Road will be closed between 9pm and 6.30am for roadworks.

Nibley Road overnight closure

Nibley Road will be closed between Badminton Road and Westerleigh Notice from 9pm on 11th October to 6.30am on 12th October so work can be carried out.

Nibley Lane to close for cleaning

Nibley Lane, from its junction with Badminton Road to its junction with Westerleigh Road, is expected to close for cleaning from 9.30am until 2.30pm on Tuesday 5th September for street cleaning to be carried out.

Abson Road closed daytime 21 Aug to 1 Sep

Abson Road, a popular cut-through between Pucklechurch and Wick, will be closed to all traffic from 21 August to 1 September for essential resurfacing work (patch repairs to defective areas). Diversions will be in place (see map above), access to properties and amenities fronting the site and whose only access is from the closed road will be available at all times although delays may occur. The work will start at approximately 7.30am and remain in place until approximately 4.30pm.

Consultation on changes to Gibbs Lane weight limit

A consultation has started on changes to the Gibbs Lane, Codrington weight limit.

The aim is to implement an enforceable 7.5 Tonne weight restriction, to prevent Gibbs Lane being used as a through route by HGVs. As with all environmental weight limits, HGVs will still be permitted to load/unload at premises along Gibbs Lane. The proposed scheme is to amend the existing Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) for the weight limit on Gibbs Lane and to install new signs.

You can find out more and have your say here until 28th August.

More roadworks on B4465 Codrington Road

South Glos Council will be undertaking essential works on the B4465 between 3 and 14 July. For quite a bit of the time the road will be closed at two locations:

Site ‘A’ is at Watts Barn, where works involve the installation of road gullies and a new drainage system.

Site ‘B’ is located in Codrington village itself. The works comprise of carriageway reconstruction / resurfacing. The limits of the surfacing are from the Wishing Well Public house westwards for 500m through the village.

The closure times and plans for temporary traffic signals are as follows:

Temporary closure of Yate Road

Yate Road will be closed for up to 5 days from 26th June from the junction with Armstrong Way to approximately 50m south of the road over rail bridge. This is to allow urgent repair works to be carried out on the bridge. The 7.5t Weight Restriction on the A432 Station Road between its junctions with Longs Drive and Westerleigh Road will be temporarily suspended. The diversion route will be B4059 Iron Acton Way, B4059 Goose Green Way, B4059 Link Road, A432 Kennedy Way, A432 Station Road, A432 Badminton Road, B4059 Stover Road and vice versa.

Do you have a road safety concern?

Since the Area Forums were scrapped, the council needed a new way to handle the local road safety schemes. If you have a road safety concern, you can now ask the council to investigate it by submitting the Highways Investigation Request Form. You will need the support of at least one local ward member and parish councillor on behalf of the parish council.

Highways officers will assess your request to see if a viable scheme is likely. If it is, it will be added to the Local Transport Investigation List and once a year will be scored and prioritised along with all the other schemes on the list. The 15 highest scoring will be investigated.

Once investigated, three things can happen:

1. If there is a simple, low cost solution, that will be programmed to be implemented immediately.
2. If a more involved scheme is needed, it will be entered on the Local Transport Priority List.
3. If no scheme is recommended, you will be told no further action will be taken.

Once a year all the schemes on the Local Transport Priority List will be scored and prioritised and given an estimated cost. The top scoring schemes will go on the council's Capital Programme for the following financial year.

You can see the lists of possible future Investigation and Implementation schemes online. You can also see the Capital Programme for 2017-18.

You can find out more about the process here.

Yate Spur cycle route - general support but some concerns remain

The results of the consultation on the latest parts of the Yate Spur cycle route have been published by South Glos - full details here - scroll down and click on "Consultation Feedback Statement".

This consultation - including a very busy exhibition at Shire Way Community Centre - covered Westerleigh Road between the mini-roundabout and the Common and a refuge on the Nibley Lane arm of the Nibley Lane/Westerleigh Road junction.

In brief, the responses to the consultation were very positive. A total of 67 responses were received:

• 49 responses were in support of the scheme (73%)
• 3 responses objected to the scheme (4%)
• 15 responses stated no preference either for or against the scheme (22%)

The South Glos report responds to all of the points made, and many of the points have been taken into account in the final design.

Local cyclists still have worries about the plans for the Nibley Lane junction, where South Glos say "Funding limitations mean we are unable to carry out a radical remodelling of the junction.... The provision of a mini roundabout has been considered but there is insufficient space available to provide one that provides sufficient visibility without taking additional land which would increase time and costs significantly". In answer to the concerns, South Glos say "the proposals will be subject to the Road Safety Audit process which should identify any safety issues with the proposals"

The likely timing of the path works is now:

• Westerleigh Road (Shire Way to Rodford Way) section starting July
• Nibley Lane junction late 2017 / early 2018

That will leave two gaps:

• Under the Rodford Elm railway arch to join the existing Westerleigh Road path to the new section - this needs engineering design that has to be agreed with Network Rail, who have already agreed in principle. Design discussions are in progress.
• The "Westerleigh bypass" from Nibley Lane to Dodmoor Crossing. The design is being done this year, and again network rail have agreed in principle. Some land ownership needs to be clarified in case the route is not all on Network Rail land.

The gradual progress is welcome, but with some reservations about Nibley Lane junction. When the whole scheme is complete - hopefully by April 2019 - there will be a safe cycle (and pedestrian) route from Yate to the Bristol - Bath Railway Path and the Ring Road Path.

Overnight ring road closures

There will be overnight closures of the ring road next week as South Glos Council will be carrying out more resurfacing work from Tuesday 18 April to Friday 21 April.

The resurfacing will take place between the Hambrook traffic lights (Bristol Road) to the Bromley Heath Roundabout eastbound on Tuesday 18 and Wednesday 19 April and between the Bromley Heath Roundabout to Wick Wick roundabout westbound on Thursday 20 and Friday 21 April. This will involve overnight closure of the westbound and eastbound carriageways of the A4174 between Hambrook traffic lights/Bristol Road junction and Wick Wick Roundabout between 8pm and 6am. During the overnight closures, traffic will not be able to access part of the A4174 ring road. Full diversion routes will be in place and will be clearly signed.

The westbound and eastbound carriageways will remain fully open at all other times.

Local highway schemes funding approved

A number of local highway and transport schemes were among those approved for 2017/18 at a South Glos committee meeting on Wednesday:

• Next phase of the Yate Spur cycle route – £150k of funding is confirmed for 17/18, with the remaining £400k to complete the work in 2018/19 to be confirmed following a funding bid submission.
• 30mph limit and other changes on the B4058 Bristol Road between the Winterbourne boundary and Perrinpit Road
• Three pairs of dropped kerbs in Frampton Cotterell - Lower Stone Close/Upper Stone Close, Goose Green/ Ryecoft Road and Woodend Road/Brockeridge
• Northbound cycle lane on A432 at Cuckoo Lane
• 20mph speed limit on Ram Hill
• Improvements to bus stops at Bridge Farm, Bristol Road, Iron Acton
• Waiting restrictions review at Emerald Green Business Park
• Amendments to existing 7.5t weight limit on Gibbs Lane, Codrington
• Resurfacing the road and upgrading the traffic lights at the B4058 Bristol Road junctions with Latteridge Road and Wotton Road.

A number of waiting restrictions around schools are still to be completed. Claire Young has chased up those for the Manor School and has been told it will be another 11 weeks before they are advertised.

An investigation of an accident cluster site at Kendleshire Crossroads was carried forward from the current year. Highways officials will also be investigating:

• a cycle path from Henfield Crossroads to the Science Park
• the installation of a traffic island on Bristol Road near Court Road
• the transport issues raised in the Frampton Cotterell Parish Plan, including speed of traffic, HGVs, pavement parking and cycle improvements

Much of the above work is being funded from money specifically given to the council by the Government for transport schemes, so it cannot be spent on other things.The council also gets funding from developers to deal with the impact of new development on transport. In our area this includes:

• parking restrictions around the new Sainsbury's by the Badminton Arms, Coalpit Heath - thank you to everyone who submitted reports and photos of the problems caused by lorries
• 20mph limit on Wylington Road, The Meads, Frampton Cotterell

Latteridge Road, Iron Acton will be resurfaced and Westerleigh Road, Codrington will have surface dressing carried out.

Nibley Lane to close for cleaning

Nibley Lane, between its junction with Badminton Road and its junction with Westerleigh Road, is expected to close for cleaning from 9.30am until 2.30pm on Wednesday 29th March.

Driving refresher roadshow for older drivers

A free refresher driving roadshow for people aged 60 and over in South Gloucestershire is being held at Longwell Green Community Centre from 1.30pm to 4pm on Thursday 9th March.

The roadshow aims to address modern changes to vehicles, and also how your own driving skills and habits may have changed, with advice on how you can go about updating those skills. The event will be relaxed and friendly with useful information to help improve people’s knowledge and confidence, as well as offering valuable health advice.

There will be a number of information stands on offer, a driving simulator to test reaction times, and free eye tests, along with a presentation covering subjects such as driving licences, changes in the highway code, safer driving at night, and effects of medication. Representatives from public health, the fire service and the local neighbourhood policing team will be present, and anyone who attends will also receive a free copy of the latest edition of The Highway Code.

M32 closures

From 20th March for 11 weeks there will be night time southbound closures of the M32 to enable the central reservation barrier over the Eastville Viaduct to be replaced.

To try to minimise disruption, the contractors will carry out the work between 8pm and 6am Monday to Friday, so the M32 will remain open in both directions during the day. At night the southband carriageway will be completely closed. There may also be times when they need to close a section of the northbound carriageway too, but these times are not yet finalised. They will be liasing with contractors on other nearby projects, such as MetroBus.

Unfortunately they won't be able to lift the 40mph restrictions when this work is complete because futher work needs to be carried out on the viaduct parapets.

If you have any queries or comments about the works and would like further information, please contact the Highways England Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000 or by email: info@highwaysengland.co.uk.

Police appeal for witnesses to Bonfire Night crash

Avon and Somerset Police are appealing for witnesses after a collision on Westerleigh Road, Westerleigh, on Bonfire Night.

The single-vehicle collision involved a red Vauxhall Omega and was reported at about 8.50pm on Saturday 5 November. A passing motorist called the emergency services after being alerted by two young men who were waving their arms and then coming across the car on its roof. No one was in the vehicle but a man was standing nearby.

They are keen to trace anyone who was travelling along the Westerleigh Road on Saturday night between about 8.30pm and 9.30pm who may have seen a red Vauxhall Omega being driven before the crash. They would also like to hear from the two young men who were alerting approaching traffic, anyone else who stopped and anyone who may have seen a man walking along Westerleigh Road at about that time.

Anyone with any information which could help is asked to get in touch through their website, or by calling 101, quoting reference 5216246855. Alternatively ring the independent charity Crimestoppers on 0800 555 111. They never ask your name or trace your call and you could qualify for a reward.

More overnight ring road closures

The west bound carriageway of the A4174 ring road between Wick Wick roundabout and Hambrook traffic lights/Bristol Road junctio will be closed overnight from Monday 31 October to Friday 18 November. The closures will run from 8pm to 6am. The eastbound carriageway will remain fully open during this period, but with no access to Bromley Heath Road towards Downend. Both the westbound and eastbound carriageways will remain open at weekends and all other times.

The work is part of the Challenge Fund project, and will involve removing the existing road surface and laying a new one. Full diversion routes will be in place and will be clearly signed. Once this work is completed, further overnight closures will be put in place for two weeks to resurface the eastbound carriageway towards Yate.

You can find out more about the project and diversion routes at www.southglos.gov.uk/challengefund