News / Transport
Graffiti removal ‘not a priority’ for MetroBus
Less than a fortnight before Bristol’s second MetroBus route is due to open, a new multimillion-pound bridge is already strewn with graffiti.
The tags are both on the ground level and high up on the crash barriers of the new skew bridge near Ashton Gate, which buses on the m2 service will use to avoid Winterstoke Road and the Cumberland Basin.
But despite the proliferation of tags, a MetroBus spokesman told Bristol24/7 that regular removal of graffiti on the route’s new infrastructure “is not something the council, or MetroBus project, has budgeted for as a priority”.
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The m2 service, due to open for business on September 3, will run between Long Ashton park & ride and Temple Meads, using some sections of guided busway and crossing the River Avon at the restored Ashton Avenue bridge.
Running parallel to and then crossing the Portishead railway line, the flyover is made up of two reinforced earth approach ramps and a 155m-long twisting deck over five spans.
In total, there is 2.7km of new MetroBus carriageway on the m2 route, with some graffiti also visible close to the junction of the new carriageway where it joins Cumberland Road close to Avon Crescent.
Tagging close to where the m2 line joins Cumberland Road
A MetroBus said: “The guideway and metrobus bridge are not adopted highway – effectively it is a private road owned by Bristol City Council.
“The cost and disruption of removing graffiti, probably on a regular basis as it is likely to return if cleaned off once, is not something the Council, or metrobus project, has budgeted for as a priority.
“These locations are difficult to clean as they would require the service not to be running whilst cleaning is carried out.
“The cleaning and maintenance contracts for metrobus shelters and iPoints covers graffiti removal and vandalism.”
There is more graffiti at the base of the skew bridge
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