The road was first closed to cars five years ago but works are still ongoing today
King Street was pedestrianised in 2020(Image: Alex Seabrook)
Long delays to roadworks in the King Street area have led to a ‘large increase’ in construction costs.
The project hit a roadblock after a lack of key information about utility pipes and cables running underground.
Parts of the area have been left dug up and fenced off for many months as a few contractors install a new bike lane.
Bristol City Council is aiming to make the area around King Street both safer to walk and cycle through, but delays have caused the costs to rise by almost £1 million.
Councillors on the transport policy committee will be asked to approve the increase in funding on Thursday (May 15), by £882,000. They were warned that not doing so would leave the roadworks unfinished and unsafe for the public, while potentially causing ‘major reputational damage’.
Roadworks on Queen Charlotte Street(Image: Alex Seabrook )
A committee report said: “Upon beginning construction, the project immediately hit a delay due to incomplete utility information.
“New utility searches had to be scheduled, and the programme was delayed due to utility providers not attending the site until their invoices had been paid. This has caused a large increase in the cost of construction.
“Utility searches have now taken place and construction is currently ongoing. However, progress continues to be slow due to a lack of workforce supplied by the contractor, partly as a result of limited site availability.
“If funding is not reallocated to this project work will have to stop. This will result in an incomplete project as construction is currently underway. This would be unsafe for the public and would also mean increased future costs when work is required to begin again. This would create major potential reputational damage.”
A new bike lane is under construction(Image: Alex Seabrook )
Roadworks are currently taking place along Queen Charlotte Street, which runs down from Baldwin Street to King Street and then Queen Square. These are installing a new bike lane and zebra crossing, as well as upgrading the pavement.
Other parts of the scheme include installing new bike stands on King Street, upgrading the pavement, and replacing temporary bollards blocking traffic with permanent ones instead. The western section of King Street was pedestrianised in 2020.
Previously there was space for two lanes of traffic and car parking on both sides of the road. This space is now used by bars and restaurants for outside seating, while pedestrians can walk along the middle of the road instead of squeezing onto a narrow pavement.
Another issue causing costs to rise is the installation gates in the Old City area, which formed part of the project to pedestrianise some streets. However, this part of the project faced problems as the rules were often flouted by some drivers, leading to the need for new gates.