Keep the children out of our way: save felix road playground, Easton!

In the posh parts of the city, the parents keep their children safe in the backgardens, with only trampoline-related injuries to fear (there's lots of posters about this in Bristol Kid's hospital, which is a bit late by then).

In the bits of the city where people are too poor to afford gardens, there are two places that kids can go outdoors

1. Parks
2. Roads

We obviously prefer them in parks, not just for their own safety but to avoid holding us up -every child that walks over a zebra crossing holds up traffic in each direction for 15 seconds; every child that presses the button on a pedestrian crossing adds 30s of delay.
One child out in the streets can cross 8-10 roads an hour.

Across the city, that adds up. And as the holidays approach, we fear for the impact all of these children have on our schedule

Which is why everyone should sign the petition to save Felix Road Playground!

Every child who spends the day in this playground is a child who isn't holding up important people!

Occupy M32: year 40

A group of protestors are camped on college green, but apart from the "whiners corner" of the Evening Post, not having much effect.

A greater group of protesters have decided to come out in numbers and bring the city to its knees. Here they are on the M32

Their protest demonstration goes all the way up to Eastville junction.

Yet the mainstream media completely ignores this, even though these protestors include BMW and Mercedes drivers -the nearly-but-not-quite-1%, whose journeys in from the suburbs are crippled by the excessive fuel taxes the state is charging in order to keep the banks afloat.

The residents of the areas near the M32 are aware of this ongoing protest against the capitalist economy, and have been spraying signs of support against the M32 itself.

If there is one criticism, this protest has been going on for about forty years, and yet it has had little effect.

cycling city: removing pavement space from motorists

One thing that Cllr Gollop -the Official Bristol Traffic approved councillor - raised in his Bikelash speech is the space taken from important road users by cycling facilities. What's been taken away? Pavement parking opportunities

This pickup, Y66TAN, whose passenger is in buying something at Quiznos on Stapelton Road is forced to carefully squeeze between the new bike racks and the railings on the other side.

Those are the railings of the large empty car park for both Quizno's and the supermarket. Yes, the pickup could have driven in there, but that would have taken more time, and the thing about important people is this: they are in a hurry, and their time is more valuable than pedestrians, cyclists or bus passengers. After all, these are the slow ways to get around. Nobody in a hurry would use them.

Shocking scenes from the BB Railway Path

Central government have recently provided enough funding for the WoEP to look at some ongoing work, such as the BRT to Ashton Gate and the A38 to A370 road.

But not to what the city really needs: buses on the railway path. Because three years ago this month, the Campaign to Save the Railway path was founded.

We sent our van over there to see what was lost. Look at it. On a weekday morning, people are cycling along without helmets or hi viz.

The one person who is has a yellow top on has one that says "police", but even they said "hello" to us as they went past, instead of the usual greeting "are you the driver of this van, sir?"

We filmed the path for a few minutes, and noted nothing happening at all. One or two people trickling down.

At one person every 20 seconds, that's three people a minute, 45 people every fifteen minutes. Which, co-incidentally is the number of people a 60 seater BRT bus would have if running at 75% capacity on the fifteen minute schedule originally planned.

You could say, therefore, that these people cycling and walking here the same traffic capacity as the BRT system. But look at them. They are not important people, -they are people that live in the inner city, not the nice suburbs. They aren't revenue earners, they are people who either through lack of money or willingness have chosen to not live in a nice pleasant suburbs where pedestrians walking are something to complain to the council about.

The West of England Partnership weren't just thinking of people like themselves, who live in the suburbs, they were thinking of the environment, especially the newts. Look at this sign

PLEASE TAKE CARE
NEWTS CROSSING

Now 45 two wheeled bicycles every 15 minutes, that's 90 wheels, in an hour 360 wheels. But four buses an hour, what's that, 4x4=16 wheels? Newts would have been exposed to far less risk if this had been made a bus route.

These people who use this path, they talk about the environment and nature, but do they care about the wellbeing of the newts and the WoEP's plans to save them? We think not. Only South Gloucester and North Somerset do, by doing their best to discourage walking and cycling in their parts of the ex-Avon county.

But even there, we hear of opposition.

Zen & the art of motorcycle parking

Use the pavement. Easy, really. It makes for some interesting street art that blind,partially sighted and mothers with pushchairs can appreciate as they squeeze past.

Adam Eff pays the wingmirror tax

There's a fancy new bicycle magazine out, Boneshaker, full of lovely photographs, very well printed, by some people affiliated with the Bristol Bike Project.

Those things show something worrying: we are losing the battle of hearts and minds. It's all very well getting AA and RAC press releases into the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph papers, it's all very well having Jeremy Clarkson on TV, but people are starting to suspect that Top Gear is made up, and it's all a bit 1980s in the not-very-cool-1980s way. Not so much Audi Quattro as Bryan Adams. What do we get as car books and magazines for example? Hayes manuals. Not very compelling.

No, we need a  way to win. But it shouldn't need violence: that rarely solves problems, just makes viewpoints less flexible. Which is why we are sad to hear that someone in a van clipped one of the Boneshaker Magazine's photographers, Adam Eff, while cycling along the St Marks contraflow.

In his own words:

From: Adam
Date: Thu, Jul 1, 2010 at 10:40 PM
Subject: Van caused me pain on St Marks contra-flow

I am in pain. Apologies if this message is overly long.

A few hours ago I was heading to Sweet Mart on St Marks road in Easton using the contra-flow down St Marks road when a large van came towards me at considerable speed (too fast in my opinion but maybe 20mph or under... either way too fast for this narrow stretch of road being crossed by pedestrians shopping etc). He didn't slow, continued to accelerate towards me to the point where I braked hard (actually only going slow as I was already slowing to stop outside Sweet Mart) and had no choice but to pull in hard to the edge of the road or go under him. I tried to hold my position out from the kerb (as taught during the level 3 lesson last year) but had to make to choice to try and stay alive at the last second. He must have assumed he was allowing me a foot or two to get around the edge of him, but his large wing mirror that adds an extra foot or two onto the width of his van clipped me, and this combined with the swerve caused me to end up upside down in a heap on the pavement. I have a very sore swollen and cut knee (gradually getting worse as the evening goes on). Also have bruises and scrapes to elbows and arms and inner thigh and back of left knee. The adrenalin has now truly worn off and I feel knackered, sick, shaky and slightly pissed off to put it mildly.

His first comment on getting out of his van was that I was "going the wrong way down a one way road". I pointed out that it is a contra-flow and not the wrong way for cyclists and then went to point out the bicycle markings and lines on the road at the point where it happened. This is where it all started to turn into a bit of a farce as of course the markings have all but worn away, and I have to say I could understand why he wasn't expecting anyone to come the other way. I can imagine anyone would find it hard to understand what the last few remaining blotches of surviving white paint mean. He also said if it was a cycle lane it should be painted a different colour. Interesting to think that is what people expect to see. He also expressed his opinion that the road is not wide enough for bicycles to be coming through the other way (maybe more true for large vans than for general car traffic).

Looking at Googlemaps street view it's clear to see that the white blotches on the floor were once an arrow and a bicycle symbol and that the arrow for the traffic traveling the opposite way seems to indicate that they should be traveling under the parked cars.




At this moment in time the bicycle symbol currently looks like this ...


or a wider view with what is left of the arrow....



We both exchanged details and debated it in a friendly enough manner for as long as we could before traffic behind him started beeping him to move. We didn't involve the Police.

A friend of mine also recently had someone in a van drive aggressively towards her on this stretch and then shout that she was "going the wrong way"

It appears that the signs slightly before this point for motorised traffic coming the other way do not get any message across to anyone and do not get noticed. They are there though...

I've noticed the markings here have been unclear for some time now.

I come across similar conflict regularly on Cobden Street coming up from Church Road as the markings are also worn enough to no longer really exist there either (also been unclear for considerable time too). Also on Victoria Avenue vehicles still do not seem to expect bicycles to be coming from the Contra-Flow direction, even though cars can and do travel in that direction too here as it's actually a two way road with a plug point with no entry for motorised traffic. Both are assumed to be one way by drivers. I've been shouted at in both places that I'm going the wrong way, had people speed up towards me, or just be caught out by surprise and brake suddenly at the last minute. People are obviously not expecting bicycles to be coming the other way and are not seeing the signs or markings ( if they are there). Often there is no way to go to get out of their way if I wanted to. in the case of St Marks road today my only option (if it hadn't happened so quickly and there had been time to think it through) would have been to get up onto the pavement. Not much chance of that in the space of one second on road tyres, although I guess that's actually what happened in the end, but not out of my choice or within my control.

Often the problem is with vans and commercial vehicles. This is becoming more obvious on Cobden Street as the larger commercial traffic is increasingly coming from Feeder road using Barton Hill as a cut through.

I still feel that there needs to be a better way to mark contra-flows with more definite and on-road markings to properly inform people to expect bicycles.

This is the third time that I've been hit by a large vehicle this year. It's now beyond a joke and I've had enough. My partner is also reaching the point where she no longer wants me on a bike on the roads as it is causing her a lot of worry.

What can be done? Who should I be talking to about this? If the markings are eroded or unclear who is responsible for that situation still being the case and currently partially for my pain, injuries and damages to my bike (ripped bar tape, buckled front wheel etc)? The driver felt that the road markings were impossible to recognise and I have to agree with him.

I have photos of his vehicle in position, of the worn away road markings and of the general scene. Also a few to show cars coming through and the position they use.

This has happened on the day that I tried to persuade my neighbour to not drive from Redfield to his work next to Temple Meades every day (a journey of less than one mile) and to cycle instead. His answer was that it's too dangerous and he'd have to cycle on the pavement, so won't do it. I'm trying to work out the irony of me reassuring him that it's not dangerous, before setting out and getting knocked off, yet again.

Thanks if you've taken the time to read all of this. Any replies, thoughts and possible solutions appreciated. I'm off now to soak my cuts and bruises before my knee seizes up completely.

Adam

Obviously, we do extend our sympathies, and not just in "look what you did to my wing mirror" kind of way. Adam may be working for "the other side", but -and this is a secret- we have used some of his videos. Also, it's good to see that at least one person never seems to be enjoying cycling in Bristol, as when he was caught suffering up Bridge Valley Road



One thing to consider here is why did the markings on St Marks Road get worn away? It can't be from bicycles, far more likely to be cars and vans. Which shows that there isn't really room to have a bike contraflow here. We don't actually propose banning bicycles from one single street (it's not our grand vision which covers a wider area of the city and a bigger ban), but why not open it up to two-traffic entirely. One way streets just create unrealistic expectations of speed in a city, whereas the two-way streets of Montpelier are self-traffic-calming, usually.  The alternative: remove the parking outside the (excellent) supermarket, Bristol Sweet-Mart simply wouldn't work as everyone is used to short stay parking there.

Corner Parking -sometimes you have no choice

There's a lot of fuss about corner parking -how it's dangerous, how some bits of the highway code say you mustn't do it. What does it say? Not park within 50 feet of a corner? Ridiculous. That would never work, not in a modern city.

No, sometimes you don't just have to park near the corner, you have to stop completely on it. Yes, it does force traffic to go round without much visibility, but, well, it's not as if you have any choice. Here we are in Easton/Lawrence Hill, at the end of St Gabriel's Road. The HGV is parked on the corner, but because it's articulated, it has managed to stay close to the kerb all the way along. Cars approaching from the north will see the vehicle and pass safely.

From the south, well, it does appear to be hiding a bit under the trees. But see that paintwork on the road to the left? Slow. That warns vehicles approaching this junction that they should slow down, and so nobody should be surprised to see an HGV parked on a blind corner rather than on the empty road adjacent to the corner.

Update: we forgot to thank RHP Transport HVG DX03XFF for their provisioning of a new traffic calming build-out in Easton. Thank you!

Control Alt Debate

This just in from a concerned St Werburgher:

Dear Friends

You may be aware of the recent campaign by a few local residents against
trucks, vans and caravans parked in Easton, St Pauls, Montpelier, St Andrews
and St Werburghs.

This activity has extended to vandalism, personal threats and serial complaints
to the police. Local PCSOs at Trinity and Newfoundland have responded by
issuing obstruction tickets to legally parked vehicles, along with threats to
tow and/or destroy them. The people committing vandalism or threatening
behaviour to owners of vehicles have not been challenged.

As a friend of a truck owner and St Werburghs resident, I have been
alarmed by the language of the attacks, which have included stickers
reading 'you're not welcome here'. My friend is often afraid to approach
her vehicle out of fear of attack and harassment.

I believe we need to broaden representation of the issues involved beyond a
vocal minority whose prime objection to the vehicles appears to be aesthetic.
As residents we should be able to park legally in our own neighbourhood without
fear of aggression or harassment.

Festival, surfer and camping vans have been part of the economic and cultural
life of one of the UK's most diverse and progressive areas for decades. If the
complainers and threateners succeed in clearing these vehicles off the streets,
your own way of life might potentially be the next at risk.

There is a meeting being held at the Jack Brimble Hall, on Lynmouth Road, St
Werburghs tomorrow Tuesday 24 November 2009 at 19:00.

Please come.

Keith Hunting


(Real name withheld for reasons of National Security)

Thali Cafe news

This site is sponsored by the Farm Pub (they let us buy their beer) and the Thali Cafe chain of Bristol, here seen in Totterdown; they have other sites in Montpelier and Easton, and will let us eat in or take away their lovely food.

We are pleased, therefore, to be the first news outlet in the city to announce that the fourth village in the city, Clifton, will soon be getting a branch too. Presumably because it is so hard to drive across Gloucester Road into Montpelier, and it takes too long to walk from Clifton. Whatever the reason, we welcome a reason to go to Clifton!

Know your rights (and lefts)

It's a well known fact that one of the main concerns facing people who are considering taking up cycling is a lack of clear understanding of what cycling actually involves. We all know that it's some sort of old fashioned hobby involving two wheels, one often bigger than the other and protective clothing such as the "top hat", but beyond that it's difficult to know where to look to find more informaton. Simple quandries such as "where am I meant to cycle" are often raised by potential newbies and seasoned pros alike. So in an effort to address some of these issues we'd like to provide the first in a short series of guides to cycling in Bristol. First up, that very quandry, where should you cycle?

As we all know cyclists don't really have a right to use most roads as they don't pay road tax, so often ample provision is made to keep them off the streets. These provisions are often subsidised through proper road users road tax in an initiative known as Carbon Upsetting. The facilities that these funds provide are often easily recognised by the bike shaped markings on the ground such as the one pictured below for the underpass linking Jacob Street to Broad Plain. It should be noted if you're new to cycling that this is an especially useful route to know as it links the centre of Bristol with the world famous Railway path. Useful not only for fun (if you've ever been Spelunking you'll know that the excitement of navigating an underpass comes a close second to some of the best, darkest caves in the world) but also for that essential commute to and from your city job.
The bike symbol markings on the ground on the left, along with the line down the middle of the route, provide important information indicating that if cycling you should keep to the left, much as a car would on the road. So it's a safe bet if you're in any doubt on any shared path, keeping to the left should be the correct thing to do. Just as the rules of the road have a language and continuity to them, so does the rules of the cycle lane / shared use pavement. Important to remember however that if you're travelling the other way then you should keep to the right. Sounds confusing? It's really not. I like to remember it using the catchy phrase "keep to the left and you'll be in the right, but sometimes keep right and make sure there's space left on the left". Armed with this knowledge you should always know where you can cycle on shared use pavements and cycle paths.

Shared use pavements are, as their name suggests, for the use of both cyclists and pedestrians. Pedestrians are always more than happy to share the pavement with bike riders as they are always aware of the shared use status due to frequent use of bold blue signs indicating this, such as this one pictured at the end of Leander Way in St Philips.
Note the symbols of both bikes and people. This is because the upcoming pavement is for use by both bikes and people, an amazingly innovative system praised by pedestrians and cyclists alike.Shared use pavements also have a lot in common with contraflows in that they will both be clearly marked with bike shaped symbols on the ground. Contraflows are a last resort measure used when no other off road facilities are possible and are one of the rare exceptions to the rule where cyclists have some rights to use a bit of the road. The other exception is use of "parking lanes", sometimes to referred to as "cycle lanes" which bikes are allowed to use when there is insufficient room on the pavement and no vehicles need the space for parking. Sometimes contraflows can also be parking lanes but there is generally no hard a fast rules about this with status changing from day to day. It's usually left to the discretion of the driver to decide, another of the rights they have earned through payment of road tax. Contraflows differ from off road facilities however in that they will also always have a white line marking their boundary against the oncoming traffic (NB. There are some circumstances where they don't have the white line. These can often be easily identified by the lack of a white line). The line is there to provide protection from the oncoming traffic as no motorised vehicles are allowed to enter this lane by law and as a result none will dare. Contraflows are lanes for cyclists allowing access the wrong way up one way streets in situations where the street is wide enough to be safe for bikes to travel the opposite direction from the cars, free from the danger of needing to be directly in the path of oncoming traffic, such as this one here pictured on St Marks Road in Easton. In areas where there isn't enough space for a contraflow they simply aren't installed. There are strict rules and regulations in place to ensure that no cycle facilities are installed that may encourage cyclists into danger or confrontation. Good to know for your peace of mind.Note the presence of the bike shaped symbol once again.Another example can be found here on Cobden Street in Redfield.As is clear once again the lane is marked with a solid continuous white lane indicating a lane that oncoming vehicles will not enter. These lines are not only important for safety but also to let the vehicle drivers coming towards you know that you are allowed to be cycling the wrong way up a one way street. As a result the driver of a grey van will not hurl abuse at you for " going the wrong way you cyclist c*%& " as he hurtles round the corner from Morley Street as he'll be able to clearly see the markings as he turns the corner illustrated in the picture below taken from his perspective.Ignore the way it looks like the road is worn in a long curve towards the contraflow. This is not likely to be caused by drivers cornering at speeds in excess of the 20mph zone and most likely to be a result of the road camber and increasingly hot rains caused by global warming from excessive production of cycle helmets and the dyes used in hi-viz clothing.

As with all practical exercises its also important to have a grasp of road theory too, so we'll leave you with one last mathematical exercise. If you're cycling south on a contraflow at 10mph and a grey van is travelling north at 40mph, what time is lunch in A&E?

So there you have it. Know where you're meant to cycle, or more importantly where you're not, and you're all set to start enjoying the refreshing and delightful experience of cycling around Bristol.

Join us next time for handy hints how to lock your bike outside Spike Island without accidentaly locking up someone elses bike too that happens to be sharing the same stand, so they don't have to spend an hour walking around the building asking if anyone owns a silver Dawes Hybrid.

Remembering Pete Taylor

Where the Railway Path runs into all the schoolkids crossing to whitehall, there's now a sign up: Thank you for not driving.

It is more than just a recognition of the fact that so many of the people on the path are doing just that, it is a way of remembering Pete Taylor, who was the man behind the signs.

There's going to be a memorial on July 18

We will meet at the Kebele centre at 9.30-10 on Sat 18^th July. For those of you that don’t know it, you can get directions at the website - . It is hoped that a few people will bring some cakes, and we can have a coffee and nibble whilst we all gather. Pete loved cake so this seemed to be a fitting start to proceedings!! Let me know if you are up for bringing cake contribution!

We will then amble down the cycle path to the Oak trees Pete planted where we will scatter his ashes and remember him. Everyone is welcome and people are invited to share their memories and celebrate his achievements in any way they see fit – music, talk, poems, songs – whatever!

I’d really appreciate it if people could spread the word via word of mouth, and please also forward this email to anyone I’ve forgotten to send it to.
Many thanks and I look forward to meeting as many of you as possible on the 18^th.

Kind regards,

Genevieve Taylor (Pete’s niece)"

For those of you who don't know the full story, there's a two page article in this summer's Bristol Cycling Campaign magazine. Pete used to find acorns, germinate them and nurture the seedlings until they were ready to be planted, which he then did. The oaks growing along the path are his work, and they will outlive all of us.

Pete Taylor

Continuing a week of bleak news, we are saddened to forward the announcement of the death of Pete Taylor.

Here he is, presenting a petition against building houses on Railway Path parkland to one of the local councillors, Faruk Choudhury, who is wearing a genuine Bristol Traffic approved high-viz top to walk down a footpath safely.



Josh Hart says

I'm afraid I have some very sad news for those of you who knew Pete Taylor, the Easton activist responsible for the 'thank you for not driving' signs around Bristol. Pete died yesterday at home- it appears that his bad and worsening asthma finally got the better of him. I didn't know him that well- I moved in down the street 6 months ago, but I do know that he had a really good heart and I always looked forward to seeing him chopping wood outside for his stove. He could be brash, condemning our car culture and lashing out against pavement parkers, but his activism sprung from love- mostly a love of our planet I think (he was the one behind the 'i love my planet' bike stickers).

Pete would literally spend all day writing letters to MP's and councillors on issues of traffic and quality of life and this persistence paid off with the city council's adoption of the thank you for not driving signs and stickers. He told me proudly the other day that he had successfully got the diesel generators banned from Broadmead after a long campaign. Undoubtedly Bristol is a greener, more livable place because of his quiet, diligent efforts.

On a more practical note, if anyone knows his next of kin or any close friends and family, please contact the Bristol coroner. If anyone knows anything about a funeral or wake, please post it here so people can pay their respects. Really we should all get together and have a big street party in Pete's honour. He was a really good guy.

I went to lay some flowers in front of his house earlier and his whole end of the street was clear of cars- no doubt that would have brought a smile to his face....

Rest in peace old friend.

Josh

Pete Fryer, of CREATE, has this to say

I was very sorry to hear the sad news that Pete Taylor had passed away over the weekend

I worked with Pete Taylor over the last ten years on campaigns to promote responsible motoring such as the 'Switch off' and 'thank you for not driving' campaigns. Pete was very active as a deep green in earlier years until asthma got the better of him. He was responsible for introducing recycling at the Glastonbury Festival and planted many thousands of native trees during the 90's. He was awarded the Lord Mayors Medal for his environmental activism in these fields and that of promoting cycling.

Peter didn't just talk green he lived green. It would be hard to find anyone in Bristol with a smaller carbon footprint (and lower energy bills) than Pete and many of us will miss his generosity of spirit and generosity of produce from his allotment - a real love of his life.

Pete made sure that bureaucrats such as myself kept our promises and kept moving in the right direction even if we couldnt move with quite the urgency or speed Pete felt was necessary to save the planet. He produced many ideas and challenged both officers and councillors on a regular basis.

I will miss him as an activist and as a friend.

Pete Fryer

Peter Robert Fryer
Environment Manager
CREATE

I met Pete in the railway path and greenbank campaigns, where his willingness to get out on the path and corner people to get them to sign petitions and come round to our way of thinking was invaluable. In this time of networking, facebook groups, twitter and the like, there is still no substitute for people who will go out there and argue their cause in the street, who will put in the hours needed to get things done. Pete was such a person, and without him. the city is poorer.

Like Josh says, time for a party.

This plan has success written all over it

We in Bristol Traffic are pleased be the first blog to recognise the "reality on the ground" and celebrate the granting of planning permission to the Chocolate Factory development, a development which will bring progress to Greenbank, including progress to the green hedgerow along one side of the railway path.

The railwaypath is a family bike path at weekends. But what is interesting for the parent may not be for the child. Look at this photo for example. The parent may be enjoying their workout towing some extra kilos to bath and back, but what of the child. They get bored. The only bit that has some interest is the Bitton Railway, as trains are one product pushed at small children -in the form of Thomas the Tank Engine.

Closer to the city centre, no trains. But now we will have that other centrepiece of child literature to look forward to, Bob the Builder, at work. This will make family bike journeys more fun. Once the multiple new access stairs to the railway path are laid out, we will also have some places between the stairs to let the kids run and play, free from the risk of passing mountain bikers doing a bit of high-speed offroad. Hopefully the residents will contribute to this family feel by providing some picnic benches and play facilities.

The E.P. says, "This plan has success written all over it". We say "mission accomplished!"

Selling cars

Have you noticed that car manufacturers are using more and more extravagant advertising techniques to sell their product? You’ve probably seen all the flashy computer-generated ads on telly (the ones which probably digitally paint out undesirable things like traffic jams etc) or if you’ve been to the cinema recently, you’ll have sat through endless versions of the same ads on the big screen. They like to project images of how luxurious and comfortable driving can be.

Now with the current economic downturn making driving expensive and the rising tide of congestion in Bristol, you’d think that it would be a great opportunity to get folks out of their comfy lounges-on-four-wheels and onto public transport. But the government have decided that taxpayer’s cash can be used for car loans and the ad campaigns continue unabated. So it’s comforting to see that someone in Easton isn’t buying into the psychology of car adverts.

Oh, and by the way Mr Chancellor, would you mind handing out some taxpayer’s cash to me so I can buy that carbon fibre road bike I fancy?.

20 mph Bristol

It has been officially leaked to the local printed press: Bristol is to get two 20 mph zones. The plans have flaws, but what is interesting is their size: Montpelier and much of St Werburgh's are included in the East zone; Southville and Bedminster in the South Zone. Leaving only the North Zone, the West Zone and the Outer zones before we have city-wide coverage.

This means that it will be safer for parents to push their puschairs along the road in both areas. All the main roads are remaining full speed, so crossing the road at the back of this photo will be as dangerous as ever.

Oddly enough, St Werburghs north of the tunnel is 30mph, so bikes heading south can run into this van at full speed.


Presumably the speed limits will be enforced to same rigorousness as cars blocking crossings, parking on yellow lines or bike lanes/paths

This is a wonderful event in Bristol's transport history, and we look forward to the same positive experience that the Portsmouth 20 mph zones have been shown to deliver.

Look for more commentary on Green Bristol Blog and Southville Roads.