Monstrous mega-roundabout plans will not serve South Glos residents well and will not help us to tackle the urgent challenges of climate change.
The South Glos branch of the Green Party has submitted a formal objection to the planned road widening and creation of five “throughabouts” on the A4174 ring road.
Our objection, submitted in response to the South Glos Council consultation, states:
“These proposals will do nothing to tackle the climate emergency, and will instead cause environmental damage and an increase in car dependency. It will also bring years of disruption for local residents. South Glos Council’s own climate emergency plan states ‘we must reduce vehicle mileage’ but a fundamental rule of traffic is that building new roads and increasing capacity just makes people drive more! Therefore South Glos Greens oppose these proposals in the strongest possible terms.”
We are aware that these concerns are shared by many in the community. Emersons Green Town Council has also submitted an objection to the plans. This followed a motion put forward by Green Town Councillor James Dowling and supported by Councillors from across political parties and independents.
Submit your responses
The consultation runs until 16th August. We encourage local residents and businesses to submit their own responses. The consultation form is straightforward to complete and only takes about 10-15 minutes.
For maximum impact we recommend you try to make your feedback personal. However, we have developed some key points you might want to draw on in your responses:
- The needs of cyclists and pedestrians are neglected
The plans do not provide adequate provision for either pedestrians or cyclists. A larger and busier road could also potentially increase the risks of accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists. - Poor air quality is bad for health
The air quality for people living, working or going to school near the ring road is already poor. Any increase in traffic on the road would have detrimental health effects, especially for people who already suffer from asthma or other respiratory conditions. - Years of disruption
If these plans go ahead we would have an estimated three years of delays, road works, noise and construction traffic. - Work patterns have changed
Since the pandemic people have become more used to working at home or travelling at less busy times of the day. The traffic demands on the ring road have changed dramatically since the proposal was first developed. There is little evidence that these proposals align with the current and future travel needs of South Glos and Bristol residents. - The plans do nothing to address the climate emergency
South Gloucestershire Council has declared a climate emergency. It is not clear how these plans could make any positive difference to the enormous environmental challenges we face. And the latest IPCC report underlines the urgency of taking climate change seriously.
Respond to the consultation here by 16th August.