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Paper or online petition details
Make Hereford Street Two-Way Again to Ease Traffic and Safety Concerns
To sign the petition see:
https://www.change.org/herefordstreet
Please note this is NOT a temporary one-way restriction to allow
for road works, as some people think. It is a PERMANENT ONE WAY
RESTRICTION which will be with us forever if it is not
challenged
We the residents of Windmill Hill wish to protest about the
damaging effects of the Council making Hereford Street one-way
eastbound, and request it be made a 2-way road again
The recent changes to Hereford Street/Whitehouse Lane have now
forced us all to become rat-runners ourselves, because we can now
longer access the major road network via Hereford Street, a 100
metre long link which has been made one way eastbound. Although we
understand that Whitehouse Lane has been made one way to
accommodate a proposed 2-way cycle lane, there is no such proposal
for Hereford Street, and Bristol City Council have, to date, not
provided any justification for making it one-way.
To exit the north side of Windmill Hill and reach Malago Road, we
now have 2 choices:
1. A 1.0 km detour via Whitehouse Lane, Philip Street, East Street
and Malago Road, or
2. A 1.6 km detour via Windmill Hill, Alfred Road, Dunkerry Road,
Cotswold Road, Brendon Road, St John's Lane and Malago Road.
These detours are inconvenient and increase the pollution in the
area, add time to our journeys (especially in the peak hours)
however they also create greater problems.
Philip Street, with parking on one side, is basically a single lane
road and is not suitable for increased flows of 2-way traffic. If
you look on the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood Scheme (BLNS)
interactive map, you will see from the pinned comments that local
people are not happy with the combination of 2 way traffic and
narrow footways, and there are frequent examples of head to head
stand-offs, vehicles driving on the footways to pass oncoming
traffic, and drivers speeding to reach the end of the road before
somebody comes the other way. If we use this route we both add to
these problems and have to experience them. All this on a road
which has similarities with a school frontage, i.e people are
constantly loading and unloading very young children in to and out
of parked cars.
The diverted traffic from Windmill Hill all needs to turn left into
Philip Street, which will be across the proposed new cycle track.
The increase in turning traffic will increase the potential
conflicts between vehicles and cycles, which increases the risk of
collisions here.
On the Philip Street route you only have to negotiate one street
where 2 way traffic is a problem. On the other route, all the roads
through Windmill Hill/Alfred Road/Dunkerry Road/Cotswold Road are 2
way, yet double parking only allows one line of traffic. Again, if
you look at the pinned comments on the current BLNS consultation
you will see that many residents on both Dunkerry and Cotswold
Roads are very unhappy with the current situation, citing incidents
of stand-offs, speeding, arguments, shouting and swearing etc. Now
that Hereford Street is unavailable as an exit, many Hill residents
will be using this route instead, so adding to the problems for
their neighbours!
Increased use of this route also means an increase in vehicles
turning right out of Brendon Road on to St Johns Lane, which will
lead to queues in the peak hour, and also increase the risk of
collisions, because uncontrolled right turns are responsible for a
high proportion of collisions.
Making Hereford Street 2-way again will address all the above
issues, therefore we ask that Bristol City Council take steps to
revoke the current one way restriction at the earliest
opportunity.
If you would like to add your comments to the South Bristol
Liveable Neighbourhood Scheme consultation interactive plan, or see
what others are saying, it is here. You have until 13 October to
add comments
https://www.ask.bristol.gov.uk/south-bristol-liveable-neighbourhoods-engagement/maps/south-bristol-liveable-neighbourhoods-interactive-map
If you would like to contact your Councillors directly and ask them
why Hereford Street has been made one way, and/or ask for their
support in returning it to 2 way traffic, they are:
Windmill Hill
Cllr.Ed.Plowden@bristol.gov.uk
Cllr.Lisa.Stone@bristol.gov.uk
Southville (Hereford Street/Whitehouse Lane/Philip Street are in
Southville Ward)
Cllr.Tony.Dyer@bristol.gov.uk
Cllr.Christine.Townsend@bristol.gov.uk
On reaching 200 signatures A Area Committee debate may be held.
This Paper or online petition ran from 27/09/2024 to 08/11/2024 and has now finished.
310 people signed this Paper or online petition.
Council response
The petition has secured 310 signatures to date, 222 from Bristol residents. Verified as of 25 November 2024.
Under the Council’s petitions scheme, where a petition has 200 or more signatures from people who live, work or study in Bristol, the petition organiser can request a Area Committee debate.
Area Committee 07 debated the petition on 4th December 2024, and
referred a response from the Strategic City Transport Team.
meeting details can be found here:
https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=684&MId=11547
Written response:
Thank you for your petition. We have considered the contents and
have agreed for officers to meet with the Committee Chair and the
petition organiser. Below is an extract from a public forum
response provided to Transport and Connectivity Committee that
covers the issues with Hereford St in detail.
“There were in total three public consultations for the
highway improvement project, and the final two of these contained
the proposal to make both Hereford Street and Whitehouse Lane
one-way.
The consultation report did not find any objections specific to
Hereford Street being one-way, so it was left as per the consulted
proposals. As part of the consultation with residents (which
included
writing to 5,500 residents on two occasions), they were asked about
options for the junction of Windmill Hill and Hereford Street, and
a majority of residents wanted to see a full or partial closure of
Windmill Hill junction to Hereford Street, which would negate the
need for Hereford Street to be two-way to vehicle traffic.
The previous administration decided to leave Windmill Hill junction as-is at that time and local Councillors have undertaken to look at this again as part of the South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood. Alternative designs can be drawn up to widen Hereford Street, however this would require additional funding and additional staff resource to be identified and may impact on the proposed South Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood budget.
In addition, some or all the following would be required to accommodate this:
• Removal of a pedestrian crossing over Malago Road (more
detail below)
• Removal of up to five trees
• Narrowing of footways (below recommended widths)
• Removal of loading bays, causing the risk of the road being
obstructed by servicing.
A number of utilities have already been diverted for the Hereford Street works, however these services may require diverting again and this may entail considerable cost – the exact costs would not be known until a two-way design is completed and the utility diversion process is started. In addition, the light-controlled pedestrian crossing on Malago Road adjacent to Hereford Street would need to be removed as any light controlled crossing must be 20 metres from any side-road junction with traffic emerging, however it is currently only 6 metres. It would be extremely challenging to sign off the above amendments in a road safety audit.”
Link to to written response:
https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/documents/b36216/Petition%20Debate%20Response%2004th-Dec-2024%2017.00%20Area%20Committee%2007.pdf?T=9