Features / long reads
The reality of Bristol’s crumbling infrastructure
Away from the picture postcard views of the Floating Harbour and colourful houses lies a reality of flooded underpasses, poorly constructed footpaths, cycle paths that suddenly stop, a growing number of potholes and crumbling bridges.
Bristol needs to invest more time, money and energy to improve its state of infrastructure. But former Bristol mayor Marvin Rees was left scratching his head when the public pushed back on his suggestion that infrastructure at the end of its life, like Plimsoll Bridge, should be demolished to make way for the so-called Western Harbour.
Tim Weekes from Bristol Rail Campaign said that over many years, Bristol “has struggled to find a way to make public transport work. It’s not now that it has deteriorated – it is partly because it is an old city.”
is needed now More than ever
Weekes added: “If you take any of the main roads – Fishponds Road, Whiteladies Road, Gloucester Road – there’s not enough room on them to give everybody the space that they need.
“You want separate cycle lanes for cyclists, you want bus lanes, you want places for people to park, you want places for general traffic. We don’t have any of those.”
Gloucester Road’s narrow roads are not sufficient for moving traffic, pedestrians and cyclists – photo: Betty Woolerton
Pavements and footpaths are a real bugbear for some. While efforts are being made to make Bristol more walkable, some are concerned not enough is being done to make walking safe.
Suzanne Audrey from Bristol Walking Alliance said: “There is a problem when people don’t think of walking as transport. There is a tendency to see cars and other motor transport as more important than walking, and to focus on roads to keep the traffic moving. But walking is an important way of getting around in the city and the pavements, pedestrian bridges and other walking routes need to be maintained.
“At the moment Langton Street Bridge (better known as the Banana Bridge), Sparke Evans Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge are all closed and each one of them is an important walking route for people in south Bristol.”
Langton Street Bridge is currently closed for repairs – photo: Molly Broderick
Audrey said that one of the worst walking routes is between Temple Meads and the Three Lamps junction in Totterdown: “The narrow route is shared between pedestrians, cyclists and now e-scooters. Bristol Walking Alliance has raised this issue with Bristol City Council and with the West of England Combined Authority as we are keen to see money spent on the route as part of the major redevelopment of the Temple Meads area.”
Audrey’s wish could soon come true with £283,000 now being spent on an ‘outline business case’ for improving walking and cycling along Bath Road from Cattle Market Road near to the Three Lamps junction.
It follows an unexpected underspend on other projects across the city after funding from Active Travel England. Less money than thought has been spent on walking and cycling schemes at Filwood Quietway, Deanery Road, Old Market Quietway and Malago Greenway.
The M32 bullies its way into the city including here in Eastville – photo: Molly Broderick
Even if more people across Bristol got walking, would we enjoy the journey? Or would we be met with flooding underpasses covered in stench and rubbish. Some of the most notorious are near Ikea in Eastgate, the Lawrence Hill roundabout and junction three of the M32.
Particularly spacious due to once being the route for fans arriving at and departing from the former Eastville Stadium, the underpass near Ikea is often filled with ankle-deep water. To cross the Lawrence Hill and M32 underpasses on its worst days, you may as well travel by boat as BBC Radio Bristol reporter Pete Simson did last year, reporting while precariously balanced on an inflatable jet ski.
Makeshift stepping stones are a regular sight to help people cross the regularly flooded M32 underpass. Soon after the local elections, David Wilcox, a Green Party councillor and chair of the growth & regeneration scrutiny committee which covers planning and transport, shared the news that the subway drains have been unblocked. “No more breezeblocks or pallets to cross the ponds!” he tweeted.
But alas; the joy was short-lived and the recent heavy rain has seen the underpasses flooded once again.
Looking for reasons for our city’s crumbling infrastructure, Wilcox blamed “14 years of Tory austerity and the fact that councils have had their budgets cut by 40 per cent over those 14 years that now we simply haven’t got the discretionary money we can drop on things anymore, and that’s a huge issue”.
Underpasses, however, are only part of the issue. Our public transport system can be a nightmare too, often epitomised by slow and delayed buses, expensive ticket prices and abandoned bus stops.
Wilcox is hopeful that discussions for bus franchising will materialise soon: “I’m part of the discussions about bus franchising. But the problem is that it’s not just the Bristol City Council that needs to make the decision.”
Weekes reasons that despite best efforts, there will always be an uneasiness between transport planners and the public: “There is a tension between the professionals who sort of have a deep understanding of the issues, and people who just want to be able to have a simple solution. People want simple solutions to what are quite difficult problems. And it’s quite hard to square that.”
In the end, it also comes down to money. “If you try driving across Bristol in the rain, through any major junction, the junction markings are missing,” Weekes said. Nobody knows where they’re supposed to be. But it’s because councils haven’t had enough money to spend on fixing it for a long time.
“Currently, they’re struggling to provide things which they have a statutory obligation to, like social care, adult services and the things that they have to revive. But they simply don’t have the budget to do it.”
Wilcox gave the example of Lockleaze, Hillfields, Eastville and Frome Vale, the area committee that he previously sat on: “We had £40,000 to spend in one year and you can’t do anything to a road for less than £100,000. It’s just crazy.”
Hillfields is Bristol’s oldest council estate – photo: Martin Booth
After the recent general election, there is renewed hope that Bristol’s infrastructure will be able to improve, with transport minister Louise Haigh saying that Labour investment in cycling and walking will be “unprecedented”. Only time will tell if we will stop needing Moses-like abilities to cross certain underpasses.
In a statement, Ed Plowden, chair of the city council’s transport & connectivity committee, said: “Keeping these systems in top shape requires a collective effort. We all have a role to play, ours in local government is focused on securing the funding needed to implement the works to keep that infrastructure operating.
“We’re not alone and share that responsibility with organisations such as Network Rail, Highways England, and the Environment Agency to name but a few. Together, we aim to ensure that each aspect of infrastructure is monitored and maintained within a tight spending envelope afforded to us by government…
“It is no secret we face serious financial pressures across the authority. Austerity cuts to local council budgets has made it increasingly difficult to fulfil our responsibilities, especially when it comes to covering the costs of repairs, and increasing reliance on competitive funding from central government, has just made this worse. Certainly, there’s parts of the city that have seen little investment for generations whilst others have emerging needs that need funding plans designed specifically for them.
“We acknowledge the difficult decisions our officers have had to make when prioritising projects and cannot forget how much is already happening to reverse the decline when finance has been made available… We hope the new Labour government will start to see the value of maintaining what we have and support us, as the poor state of our roads and assets can affect both civic pride and road safety.”
Main photo: Betty Woolerton
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