Plans for Bristol A4174 ring road changes postponed following 'overwhelming opposition'

• Watch Katie Rowlett's report

More time will be given to review plans for the South Gloucestershire A4174 ring road following the opening of it's first through-about last week.

The council has put the plans on pause for at least 12 months after there was overwhelming opposition to the controversial £30million plans.

A 12-week public consultation revealed 84 per cent out of 880 respondents disapproved of the scheme.

This means the council is postponing a bid for government money for the improvements to five roundabouts on the A4174, including road-widening and three more “throughabouts”.

The decision comes just a week after the reopening of the Wraxall Road junction as a throughabout, with lanes from the main carriageway ploughed through the middle of it for straight-ahead traffic.

Residents branded the council's plan as “dangerous” and a “huge waste of money”.

More traffic lights and entry lanes would have been installed and land at the edges of the ring road developed to provide extra space and avoid congestion.

But no dedicated bus lanes were proposed and the plans immediately came under fire from West of England Labour metro mayor Dan Norris and Green local politicians who said road-building generated more vehicles.

The local authority says it has listened to feedback on the £6.9million changes to Wraxall Road roundabout and would not be submitting its bid to Whitehall for the bigger project until at least late 2022.

It said people wanted more time to become familiar with the revamp, which would now be evaluated, and there were also concerns about the impact and disruption caused by three years of construction work and roadworks.

South Gloucestershire Council cabinet member for regeneration, environment and strategic infrastructure Cllr Steve Reade said: “We would like to thank all those who took part in our consultation and for their detailed feedback on this project.

“You have spoken and we have listened. We will not be submitting a funding bid at this time, but we will feed the comments received back into the proposals.

“Whilst pleased with the first few days’ operation of the new Wraxall Road throughabout scheme, we recognise it’s quite a big change for the area and people need time to become familiar with it. We will continue to monitor it to inform the wider project.

“There remains a strong case both economically and environmentally for junction improvements along the A4174.

“It is anticipated that with no intervention the congestion along the ring road and on adjacent roads will worsen in the years to come due to planned local growth.

“The A4174 is an important part of our road network in South Gloucestershire and it is essential we keep traffic moving.

“We also need to keep in focus our climate emergency goals of reducing carbon emissions and encouraging more people to use sustainable transport options.

“Our proposals for the A4174 play a part in delivering this commitment.”

The roundabouts in the proposed project were Lyde Green, The Rosary (also known as Emersons Green), Siston Hill, Deanery Road and Kingsfield.

Funding would have come from the Department for Transport.