There’s good news and bad news for drivers as one road reopens, roadworks will begin nearby
A view of the Bath New Bridge, the western side of the Bath Road Bridges roundabout, looking north towards Temple Meads and St Mary Redcliffe Church. Work to repair and restore the bridge will run from July 2025 into the spring of 2026(Image: Google Maps)
Work to refurbish and repair a key roundabout bridge in Bristol is set to begin next month – and there’s good news for drivers as a nearby road will finally reopen at the same time.
Council contractors will start work on the Bath New Bridge – one of the two Bath Road Bridges next to Temple Meads station on July 14.
And at the same time, nearby York Road will reopen to drivers heading from Bath Road Bridge roundabout to Bedminster Bridge along the south bank of the River Avon.
Work to stabilise the south bank of the New Cut has seen York Road closed to through traffic either side of the turn off to Victoria Park and Totterdown since July last year.
Drivers going between Bedminster Bridge roundabout and Bath Road Bridge roundabout have had to divert onto the north bank of the river along Clarence Road, but there will be a major change to this arrangement starting in the middle of July.
From Monday, July 14, York Road will be reopened to drivers head west from Temple Meads and the Bath Road Bridge roundabout towards Bedminster and Ashton.
Work on the embankment reconstruction will continue, but the blockage there will be eased to allow one-way traffic past the Langton Street ‘Banana’ Bridge.
On the same day, work will begin on the Bath New Bridge, the west side of the double Bath Road Bridge roundabout, and that will mean restrictions for drivers.
The entrance slip road from York Road onto the roundabout will be closed completely, as will the exit slip road off the roundabout for drivers heading onto Clarence Road on the other side of the river.
The impact of all of this will effectively create a one-way gyratory system between the Bath Road Bridge roundabout and the Bedminster Bridge roundabout – with drivers heading west on York Road and east on Clarence Road on the north side of the river.
The roads themselves won’t be one-way as such – both have side roads and access for local traffic – but drivers heading between the two bridges along the river will have to go west along the south side of the river and east along the north side of the river.
It will mean the Bath New Bridge will be down to one lane for all traffic heading from the A4 Bath Road towards Temple Way and Temple Meads, so the council is warning of delays in this area at rush hour.
READ MORE: Bristol traffic could be seized up by roadworks on ‘everything, everywhere, all at once’READ MORE: Exactly how major changes to Bedminster Bridge will affect drivers
“Only one lane of the Bath New Bridge can remain open while the repair work takes place, meaning significant delays are to be expected when heading into the city centre on the A4,” said a council spokesperson.
“Towards the end of the project there will need to be overnight closures so the whole width of the road can be resurfaced.
“From 14 July York Road will reopen one-way travelling from Bath Bridges roundabout towards Bedminster Bridges roundabout. This is to allow the river bank stabilisation works to continue along York Road while keeping traffic moving throughout the Bath New Bridge works,” he explained.
“There will also be no right turn from St Luke’s Road onto York Road and no left turn from Bath New Bridge onto Clarence Road. This will mean York Road and Clarence Road will act as a gyratory system,” he added.
The work is part of a massive council project to restore, repair and refurbish all the bridges over the New Cut and the River Avon, along with the embankments too, after a major survey found all of them needed urgent work as they had been neglected for so long.
The Banana Bridge has reopened
The £16m programme has already seen the Gaol Ferry Bridge between Southville and Wapping Wharf restored, and last week the Banana Bridge from Totterdown to Redcliffe was reopened too.
Two other pedestrian bridges remain closed as work continues. The Vauxhall Bridge between Southville and Spike Island closed in October 2023 and will take more than a year to be reopened, while the Sparke Evans Park Bridge from Arnos Vale to St Philip’s Marsh should be finished this year.
The old Bathurst Swing Bridge next to the Louisiana also closed in April, with traffic lights directing traffic across the other bridge for the next two years. The man in charge of Bristol’s roads, bridges and transport is Cllr Ed Plowden, the chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee.
“Having reopened the spectacular looking Banana Bridge on June 20, we are moving onto the next bridge in our ambitious programme to restore eight bridges along the New Cut,” he said.
“Bath New Bridge is part of a major transport route into Bristol, so we’ve planned the works to keep disruption down as much as possible.
“However, because of the high volume of traffic travelling over the bridge, delays are to be expected, and I’d like to thank everyone once again for bearing with us while we work to safeguard the future of our bridges and these vital connections.
“After many years of not having the funding to invest in Bristol’s infrastructure, it is good news that we can work in partnership with the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority to make sure our harbourside infrastructure is robust and remains in place for future generations.”
The Bath Bridge Roundabout with York Road to the west on the Totterdown side of the River Avon New Cut, and Clarence Road on the Redcliffe side. From Monday, July 14, roadworks will begin on the Bath New Bridge, the west bridge of the roundabout. This will effectively create a gyratory with the Bedminster Bridge roundabout. Drivers going from Bedminster to Bath Road and Temple Meads will have to drive on the north side of the river along Clarence Road. Drivers heading from Temple Meads and Bath Road to Bedminster will have to drive on the south side of the river along York Road – which will be reopened one way while work continues to repair the embankment (Image: Google Maps)
The £1.5 million the work to repair the Bath Road Bridges will cost is coming from the Government, not Bristol City Council ’s local taxpayers, via the Department for Transport’s City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement – money given from Whitehall to the West of England metro mayor Helen Godwin.
She said fixing such an important bridge as the one next to Temple Meads is vital if Bristol is to get better roads and public transport.
“Getting the basics right by fixing our region’s roads and bridges will lay the foundations for a better transport system overall for the West of England,” she said.
“Earlier this month, we secured £752 million for that next stage. That means that the West can get out of the slow lane on transport and start to catch up with other city-regions, with better buses, more trains, and mass transit – with trams and much more on the table.”
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