[hawkinspeter]

There’s a petition here: https://actionnetwork.org/petitions/scrap-the-a4174-ring-road-rejig to scrap the proposed changes to the A4174 (nr Bristol).

BristolPost article here: https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/hundreds-sign-bristol-ring-road-5902074

• There will be years of disruption
  If these plans go ahead we would have an estimated three years of delays, road works, noise and construction traffic affecting all users of the ring road

• Buses, cyclists and pedestrians are neglected
  The plans do not provide adequate provision for either pedestrians or cyclists and make no commitment to improving bus frequency and reliability. A larger and busier road could also potentially increase the risks of accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists.

• The plans do nothing to address the climate emergency
  South Gloucestershire Council has declared a climate emergency. These proposals will not make any positive difference to the enormous environmental challenges we face. And the latest IPCC report underlines the urgency of taking climate change seriously.

Topic

[hawkinspeter]

One of the problems is that

One of the problems is that we don’t have control over other countries continuing to extract fossil fuels. What we do control, however, is our demand for those fuels, so I think we have to shut down our continued burning of fossil fuels as soon as is physically possible. Building new roads and airports is just ridiculously stupid as what we need is infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists, scooters and public transport.

[wycombewheeler]

hawkinspeter wrote:

What grinds my gears is that they ‘declare a climate emergency’ and then just go ahead with building more roads.

and runways, and oil wells and coal mines.

It’s like they know what the direction of travel needs to be, but instead of stopping going in the opposite direction they are just slowing down slightly*.

* with sufficiently accurate measurement it may be possible to provide this slight reduction in the increasing use of fossil fuels, or it may not actually exist.

To my mind it’s really simple – no new fossil fuel extraction – no new oil wells, coal mines or fracking. Then as the existing resources run out carbon emissions will drop, price rises will force people to alternative clean energy.

This is absolutely the bare minimum, really we should be looking at reducing extraction and leaving known exploitable resource in the ground.

[hawkinspeter]

What grinds my gears is that

What grinds my gears is that they ‘declare a climate emergency’ and then just go ahead with building more roads.

They’ve previously had to restrict traffic at the Hambrook junction due to poor air quality and there’s been plenty of collisions there including Tom Harris: https://road.cc/content/news/cyclist-suffers-brain-damage-after-collision-282293

But yeah, just keep on trying to optimise for cars and pretend that the planet isn’t burning…

Edit: found an earlier quote from a council spokesperson about plans to deal with the excessive ring-road traffic:

We are investing £160m over the next four years to reduce congestion and emissions, improve cycling and pedestrian routes, facilitate faster bus journeys to future proof our road network and provide travel options.

The aim of this ambitious programme of work is to get our road network ready for major new housing and business developments as well as making sustainable travel options a more attractive choice so that we can keep people moving now and in years to come.

[mdavidford]

Hmm – not sure giving them in

Hmm – not sure giving them in Wingdings is going to help driver navigation.

[brooksby]

As I understand it, one of

As I understand it, one of the main complaints is that it will VERY MUCH prioritise traffic which is just sailing along on the ring road itself and will extend the time it takes for traffic to get on and off the ring road.  So, a great design if you wish to spend your days driving around and around in circles but not so good if you live in one of South Glos’s surburban sprawl areas and wish to use the ring road to get anywhere.

(And they decided not to bother with bus lanes or cycle lanes)

[hawkinspeter]

They’re the road number that

They’re the road number that each lane leads to e.g. A4174

[mdavidford]

What are the strange space

What are the strange space invaders / bat logos painted all over the road for?

[TheBillder]

It looks terrible – someone’s
It looks terrible – someone’s on a nostalgia trip there, or needs to bury an opponent under tons of asphalt.

Traffic lights on roundabouts always seem to indicate an epic failure of design. If the demand isn’t even enough for a roundabout, make a crossroads, and then you can have ASLs, pedestrian and bike phases. Is it actually that difficult?

On an unrelated rant, why don’t the illuminated signs on motorways that say “check your tyres” (what, now?) get programmed to say “queuing traffic is your fault, get the train”?

[Author]

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