A4 Bath Road: Plans for relief road along old rail line criticised

Plans for a new relief road along an old railway line have been criticised.

The Callington Road Link in Brislington, Bristol, would lead to St Phillips Causeway along a disused railway line.

The A4 Bath Road between the Three Lamps junction and Callington Road would then only allow buses and bikes.

Residents along the route between Bath and Bristol are being encouraged to take part in a consultation of early plans for the A4.

The new road was discussed for years by Bristol City Council before Labour appeared to ditch the plan in 2021.

Now, the West of England Combined Authority (Weca), also run by Labour, has revived the plan and is consulting the public on whether it should go ahead.

Marvin Rees, the Labour mayor of Bristol, has sternly criticised the plan and instead called for a mass transit system with sections of underground rail.

If the relief road was built, through traffic entering the city from the east would need to drive along St Phillips Causeway to get into the city centre.

Travelling west, drivers would re-join Bath Road at the West Town Lane junction.

A new cycle route would be built alongside the new road, as well as along Bath Road.

Liberal Democrat Councillor Andrew Varney, representing Brislington West, said building a new road would create more traffic and not reduce congestion.

He added that the old North Somerset railway line should be turned into a footpath and cycle path, similar to the Bristol and Bath Railway Path, an idea he has campaigned on for years.

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