Road closures are 'shocking', councillor says

The closure of major routes in a city is "shocking and completely daft", a councillor says.

Roads in Bristol including Bath New Bridge in Temple Meads and the dual carriageway Passage Road in Henbury are closed for repairs.

Mark Watson, the local councillor for Henbury and Brentry and the Leader of the Bristol Conservative Group, said: "Someone somewhere has not planned this properly. It's shocking. I'm not disputing the works need doing but if they waited a week, schools would be off. It is completely daft."

Helen Godwin, mayor of the West of England, said the repairs will "lay the foundations for a better transport system overall for the West of England".

While Passage Road - in the north of the city - is closed southbound, traffic will need to follow the signposted diversion via Crow Lane, Henbury Road, and Falcondale Road for onwards travel.

Pedestrians and cyclists will still be able to use the road.

The works are needed to rebuild a section of the road because it was originally constructed with poor quality materials, the city council said.

The work on Passage Road is happening while the Henbury transport scheme is being built - which has already seen widespread disruption in the area.

Meanwhile, work to repair Bath New Bridge, part of Bath Bridges roundabout on the A4 Bath Road, has started on Monday.

Its repair forms part of the council's £16m New Cut bridge's restoration programme that is restoring eight crossings over five years.

Only one lane of the bridge can remain open while the repair work takes place, meaning significant delays are to be expected when heading into the city centre on the A4.

From Monday, York Road will reopen one-way travelling from Bath Bridges roundabout towards Bedminster Bridges roundabout.

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