Businesses on Park Street fear a proposed £15m bus gate project will severely impact them, leading to the formation of a “Save Park Street” group.
The city wants a bus gate at one end and a bus lane at the other end. This could close Park Street to through traffic. Cars could still use back streets near City Hall and streets near the Hippodrome. Then, cars could leave Park Street as usual.
The plan includes new bus stops and segregated cycleways. Pavements would become wider too. They will add parking for bikes and e-scooters near Park Street and College Green.
The road near Victoria Rooms will change as the road shifts to the north side. There’ll be bus lanes around a single traffic lane. A new T-junction will appear for Queens Road, which leads from Clifton Village. Queens Road will flow into Whiteladies Road.
Local businesses are very critical and formed the “Save Park Street” group, which includes more than 15 shops. They think the plan feels catastrophic to them.
This group existed since 2021 when a similar idea was proposed before. The council says the plan improved since then, adding details to public spaces and new parking for e-scooters. But businesses are still unhappy.
“Save Park Street” thought the idea was dead, but now they are against it again. They worry the plan might affect traffic and increase it near Clifton Triangle. They also worry about kids’ safety near a school, resulting from traffic moving onto Anchor Road.
They say the hospital will become more polluted more quickly. The group believes Park Street will decline, claiming there is no problem now. The group says the changes push traffic back from Clifton Triangle towards Park Row. They seek to talk to the council soon, and a petition plans to aim at canceling the plan.
A council member thinks changes are needed to meet environmental targets and adjust travel. FirstBus supports the plan, claiming it’ll improve bus reliability. But a traffic chief admitted Park Row is already full.
