Fresh plans to boost links between city and Bath

NEW plans to improve transport links between Bristol and Bath have been unveiled by the West of England's metro mayor, along with another round of consultations to ask people from Totterdown and Brislington to Keynsham and Bath what they think of the proposals.

- Tristan CORK

The old North Somerset railway line through Brislington - which previous mayors and councils had talked about turning into a relief road, a bus lane or a light railway - is not mentioned in the latest plans

The plans are the latest attempt to come up with a way of making bus travel faster and more reliable between the two main cities in the region, and form part of a wider project that has seen the metro mayor given £752 million to spend on transport and travel improvements.

There are some changes to the previous plans for what is known as the 'A4 Bristol-Bath corridor' that have been consulted on and debated about since 2023 when previous metro mayor Dan Norris put forward his ideas.

But the new metro mayor Helen Godwin, who took over in May this year, has left out some of the more contentious parts of the A4 plans - including a bus lane down the Keynsham bypass and the transformation of an old railway line through Brislington - and said they will be looked at separately.

The fresh consultation is now live and will run to December 2, with people living or travelling along the route being asked to see what is proposed and have their say.

Helen Godwin said her new revised proposals have been rewritten based on the feedback from 5,000 or more residents from 2023 and 2024. She said the revised plans include 40 new and upgraded pedestrian crossings of the A4, with a particular focus on primary schools in and around the main road, including Holymead infant and primary, Wicklea Academy, Broomhill Junior and St Anne's infant schools.