Trial 'not safe' as traffic going past school increases

CAMPAIGNERS have warned there is an accident waiting to happen in Bath as data shows a council liveable neighbourhood increased traffic past a primary school by 720%.

- JOHN WIMPERIS Local Democracy Reporter

Winifred's Lane at the top of Cavendish Road was closed to through traffic on a trial basis in November 2024 as part of Bath and North East Somerset Council's liveable neighbourhood programme. Liveable neighbourhoods are intended to stop speeding on residential roads and make them safer and more pleasant for walking and cycling.

But even some of the few people who live on Winifred's Lane - a narrow one-way lane connecting Cavendish Road to halfway up Sion Road - were opposed to closing it to through traffic. Now locals have warned that closing that route has pushed the traffic onto roads with schools and more houses.

Traffic going north up the lower part of Sion Road past the exit of Kingswood Junior and Nursery School has increased from 116 vehicles per day before the trial to an average of 951 now - an increase of 720%. Campaigners, the Heart of Lansdown Conservation Group, commissioned independent assessor Smart Transport Hub to gather the data across a week and weekend in March.