Improvements to the number 2 bus route (A37/A4018)

Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority have committed to developing and improving bus services as a priority for the region, in collaboration with bus operators.

Through radical changes to bus infrastructure, we are aiming to achieve shorter bus journey times and increase how reliable they are.

To do this, we are working to change some of the major roads across the city to make it easier for people to take the bus and to walk or cycle. It is part of plans to transform Bristol’s road network, introducing quicker and more reliable bus travel, cleaner air, and improved walking, wheeling and cycling routes.

The number 2 bus route, which travels along the A37 and A4018, is one of the main transport corridors in Bristol that we are working to improve.

Our aim is to provide a better travelling experience for those who take the bus, walk, wheel or cycle, to encourage more people to choose to make the switch over to sustainable transport, which will help reduce congestion and improve air quality.

Updated plans for the central section of A37/A4018 route.

Bristol City Council has updated its plans for part of the central section of the A37/A4018 project.

The plans cover:

Queens Road
the Triangle
Park Street
College Green

The plans have been updated in response to a public consultation, held from November 2021 to January 2022, that covered the whole project.

The project aims to improve bus journey times, make walking, wheeling and cycling safer and easier, while making sure people can still access shops and cultural venues in the area.

We are sharing the updated designs with everyone, so they know what is planned for this popular and busy part of Bristol ahead of a statutory consultation on the updated plans in spring/summer 2025.

The A37/A4018 route

The A37/A4018 route is a 15-mile transport corridor from Stockwood to Henbury that follows the number 2 bus route.

We have divided the route into three geographical areas and are delivering the project over five work packages. This is because parts of the route are being constructed at different times as final designs are approved and contractors booked in to do the work.

We have split the project into three geographical areas and are delivering it over five work packages. This is because parts of the route are being constructed at different times as final designs are approved and contractors booked in to do the work.
1. North section – South Gloucestershire boundary on Station Road, along Knole Lane through to South mead Road, onto Henleaze Road, over the Downs and onto Whiteladies Road by Tyndall’s Park Road.
2. Central section- Bottom of Whiteladies Road, down Park Street, through Cabot Circus, over Bristol Bridge, along Victoria Street, past Temple Meads and onto Bath Bridges.
3. South section – Three lamps junction on A37 and following the Wells Road through Knowle, past Airport Road, onto West Town Lane and into Sturminster Road .

Central section

Our plans for Queens Road, the Triangle, Park Street and College Green are part of work package three, which falls within the central section of the route.

The central section goes from the bottom of Whiteladies Road, down Park Street, through Cabot Circus, over Bristol Bridge, along Victoria Street, past Temple Meads and onto Bath Bridges.

Parts of the central route have already been built, including improvements to Bristol Bridge. Construction work at Victoria Street is also underway.

We are also aiming to bring some of the work at College Green forward, including refurbishing the traffic signals as they are beyond their operational lifespan.

North section

The north section goes from the South Gloucestershire boundary on Station Road, along Knole Lane through to Southmead Road, onto Henleaze Road, over the Downs and onto Whiteladies Road.

We are proposing to engage with stakeholders on proposals in this section in early 2025. These proposals will form part of work packages four and five.

South section

The south section starts from the Three Lamps junction on the A37 and follows Wells Road through Knowle, past Airport Road, onto West Town Lane and into Sturminster Road.

We are finalising these plans, which form work package two. Depending on the results of a statutory consultation and approval of the business case, we are aiming to start construction on site in summer 2025.

There may be further proposals developed as part of work package four within the south section.

How we got here

In 2020 we asked for suggested improvements to the whole A37 and A4018 route.

Based on this feedback we created detailed designs, which we consulted on from November 2021 to January 2022.

Read the consultation report.

Following the public consultation, we have updated the plans for the central section, which we are sharing for information ahead of holding a statutory consultation on the plans in spring/summer 2025.

Reasons for the project

Without more investment in our public transport network, by 2036 delays are forecast to increase by 40 per cent, journey times by 9 per cent, and CO2 emissions from transport by 22 per cent.

We need to make significant changes to our road network if we are to meet Bristol’s carbon neutral targets and respond to the travel needs of a growing population.

Investing in the city’s transport network – to speed up bus journeys and create a better environment for walking, wheeling and cycling – will give people more options when deciding how they travel.

Overview of the plans

The main plans for Queens Road, the Triangle, Park Street and College Green include:

Reducing Queens Road to one lane in both directions from Whiteladies Road to the Triangle.
Closing Park Street to through traffic using a bus gate at the top of Park Street and a bus lane at the College Green and Canons Road junction.
Closing Richmond Hill and Park Place at one end to prevent through traffic.
Closing Berkeley Avenue to general traffic.
Reversing the one-way direction on Park Street Avenue to include time restricted loading to allow the space to be used in the afternoon/evenings for pedestrian activities.
Introducing more areas of public space, including a large area in front of the Victoria Rooms on Queens Road.
Creating continuous segregated cycleways from the bottom of Whiteladies Road to Park Row.
Upgrading bus stops and installing new ones.
Adding e-scooter and cycle parking.
Widening pavements and improving crossings for pedestrians and cyclists.
Removing some parking on Queens Road, the Triangle and Park Street.
Adding loading bays, taxi ranks and disabled parking.

Benefits of the project

This project sets out to:

Make the number 2 bus service faster and more reliable and benefit other buses that use this route.
Create quieter, cleaner, greener and safer roads.
Boost the number of people who walk, wheel, cycle and catch the bus.
Create attractive and useable public spaces to make the area more people friendly.
Support and revitalise the high street by creating spaces where people want to stop and spend time.
Connect people to jobs, education, services and one another.
Improve local air quality and reduce CO2 emissions from transport.

Queens Road

Plans include:

Reducing Queens Road to one lane in both directions from Whiteladies Road to the Triangle, to make way for a new public green space in front of the Victoria Rooms.
A new three-stage traffic signal arrangement at the Queens Road junction with Whiteladies Road.
Closing Richmond Hill and Park Place to through traffic where they meet Queens Road.
A new segregated cycleway from Whiteladies Road along Queens Road.

Main changes to the plans following the public consultation include:

Adding an inbound bus lane from Whiteladies Road that continues to the Queens Road/Triangle bus stops.
Installing an island to the zebra crossing and a bus shelter to the bus stop on Queens Avenue.
Adding two passing places on Richmond Hill and removing the build outs at Richmond Hill and Frederick Place to allow for two-way traffic.
Adding more detail to the public space on Queens Road, including seating areas, new trees and landscaping.
Additional segregated cycleways at the entrance to Richmond Hill and Park Place.
Relocating a car club parking bay on Park Place.

An artist’s impression of the road layout on Queens Road looking towards the Victoria Rooms with a large area of public space that has grassed areas, seating, trees and planting.

An artist’s impression showing the new public space on Queens Road with a wide pavement and a two-way segregated cycleway running towards the Victoria Rooms

Triangle

Plans include:

A section of bus lane from University Road to provide priority access to Park Street, while retaining the straight ahead lane to direct general traffic along Park Row.
Closing Berkeley Avenue to general traffic and making the existing University Road closure to traffic permanent.
New bus stops at the top of Jacobs Wells Road and moving the outbound bus stops from Queens Road to Triangle South to make space for a cycleway and loading bay.
Removing parking on Queens Road/Triangle to allow for a segregated cycleway.
Adding disabled parking bays, loading bays and taxi ranks.

Main changes to the plans following the public consultation include:

Adding an inbound bus lane from Whiteladies Road that continues to the Queens Road/Triangle bus stops.
Retaining the loading bay on Queens Road/Triangle.
Adding a segregated cycleway going in the direction of traffic on the north side of Queens Road (outside Wills Memorial Building) with a stepped track cycleway going with the direction of traffic on the south side of the Triangle (outside Wetherspoons).
Moving the loading bay outside Wetherspoons so it is between the pavement and cycleway.
Adding more detail to the designs for the University Road public space, including cycle racks, new trees, landscaping and seating, as well as a crossing point over the Queens Road junction that is on the same level as the pavement (a continuous pavement).
Cycle and e-scooter parking.

An artist’s impression showing the new public space on University Road with a wide pavement either side of green space in the middle with trees, planting and seating.

Park Street

Plans include:

A bus gate at the top of Park Street, approached by a bus lane from Queens Road, to prevent through traffic. This would work in combination with a bus lane on the College Green and Canons Road junction, which would feed general traffic onto Anchor Road. The bus gate and bus lanes would allow access for buses, taxis, motorcycles, and cycles only. Traffic visiting Park Street and local traffic would still be able to access Park Street but only from St Georges Road. Traffic would exit Park Street and College Green as normal.
Widening the pavement on the east side of Park Street to provide an improved pedestrian environment as well as opportunities for seating and planters.
Reversing the one-way direction on Park Street Avenue to include time restricted loading to allow the space to be used in the afternoon/evenings for pedestrian activities.
Moving parking to the west side of the street to make it safer to cycle down Park Street.
Making Great George Street to Hill Street one-way in and Charlotte Street one-way out from Hill Street to improve safety and introduce public space.

Main changes to the plans following the public consultation include:

Adding cycle and e-scooter parking laybys.
Adding a build out at the St Georges Road junction.
Making Great George Street one-way in to Hill Street.
Making Charlotte Street one-way out to Hill Street.
Adding more detail to the parklets (public spaces) on the junctions of Charlotte Street and Great George Street, including new cycle racks.
Relocating a car club parking bay on Charlotte Street.

Artist’s impression of Park Street showing an extended pavement with planters and seating outside.

College Green

Plans include:

A refurbished traffic signal junction, with upgraded pedestrian and cycle crossings.
A bus lane allowing buses, taxis, motorcycles, and cycles only up Park Street.
Removing the left turn from Canons Road onto College Green.
Adding a crossing point over the Unity Street junction that is on the same level as the pavement (a continuous pavement).

Main changes to the plans following the public consultation include:

New pedestrian access to College Green.

College Green programme of work

Because of the old age of the traffic signals at the College Green and Canons Road junction, we are aiming to bring forward the construction work to refurbish the signals and the pedestrian and cycle crossings.

The remaining work, including installing the bus lane from St Augustine’s Parade, the no-left turn from Canons Road into College Green, and the new pedestrian access to College Green from Park Street, are still subject to the spring/summer 2025 statutory consultation and business case process and remain part of our central proposals.

Movement of traffic

Local traffic will still be able to access Park Street and side roads, but the route you drive will change.

Funding

The budget for the A37/A4018 transport corridor project is approximately £37.5 million. The central section is expected to cost around £15 million.

The project is being funded by the UK Government as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, which is administered by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

This funding aims to decarbonise transport and encourage people to use public transport and to walk and cycle more. It cannot be used for ongoing maintenance of roads or on other council services, such as housing.

What’s next?

We will hold a statutory consultation on all the traffic regulation orders, including the Park Street bus gate, in spring/summer 2025.

Following a decision on the statutory consultation and the business case, construction work could potentially begin in late 2025.

In the meantime, we will be speaking with local businesses to seek their input on what else they would like to see in the area.

FAQ’s

Our objectives for the A37/A4018 transport corridor project are to:
- increase the proportion of trips made by walking, wheeling and cycling.
- improve the journey time of bus services and enhance bus stop facilities.
- improve safety for all journeys.
- enhance the streetscape, public spaces and urban environment.
We ran early engagement in 2020 on initial ideas for the area, followed by a public consultation from 29 November 2021 to 28 January 2022 to get comments on more detailed designs.

Designs were updated following public consultation. Since then, we have delivered the Bristol Bridge section of the project and we have now begun construction of the Victoria Street section.
There are national and local strategies that this project aligns with, including:
- National/Department for Transport – Bus Back Better: National Bus Strategy for England (2021), Gear Change: A bold vision for walking and cycling (2020), Decarbonising Transport: A Better, Greener Britain (2021), Cycle Infrastructure Design Local Transport Note (LTN) 1/20 (2020)
- Regional/West of England Mayoral Combined Authority – Future Mobility Zones Fund (2019), Joint Local Transport Plan 4 (2020), Sustainable Transport Settlement (2021), WECA Climate and Ecology Strategy and Action Plan (2023), Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (2020-2036), West of England Bus Strategy (2020), Bus Service Improvement Plan (2021)
- Local/Bristol City Council – Corporate Strategy (2022-2027), Bristol Transport Strategy (2019), The City Centre Framework (2020), One City Plan (2021), First Bus and Bristol City Council Bus Deal (2019), Bristol Clean Air Zone (CAZ) (2019)
We will be holding a statutory consultation in spring/summer 2025.

The business case will be considered by Bristol City Council and the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority in spring/summer 2025.

If the above processes are met and agreed upon by decision makers, construction could begin late 2025/early 2026.
The budget for the A37/A4018 transport corridor project is approximately £37.5 million. The central section is expected to cost around £15 million.

The project is being funded by the UK Government as part of the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, which is administered by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

This funding aims to decarbonise transport and encourage people to use public transport and to walk and cycle more. It cannot be used for ongoing maintenance of roads or on other council services, such as housing.
A bus gate is a short section of road that only buses and authorised vehicles can use. They have the words ‘bus gate’ marked on the road at the entrance to the bus gate. Some also have a section of red road surface. Bristol’s bus gates are in use 24-hours a day, seven days a week. CCTV cameras operate to make sure drivers obey bus gate restrictions. Only buses and authorised vehicles can use bus gates.
A bus lane is marked by a solid, thick white line and the words ‘bus lane’ marked periodically on the road that normally runs in parallel to a lane for general traffic. Only buses and authorised vehicles can use a bus lane.
A continuous pavement is a footway that runs alongside the edge of a road and continues unbroken and at the same level across the junction of a side road, with markings used to indicate priority to pedestrians and/or cyclists. While they them down, vehicles can still cross over a continuous pavement, but priority is given to pedestrians and cyclists.
A two-way segregated cycleway is separated physically and completely from the highway and pavement. It runs in two directions.

A single lane segregated cycleway is separated completely from the highway and pavement and runs in parallel with the existing highway in one direction.
Yes. Vehicular traffic would still be able to access Park Street and College Green.

All traffic not authorised to pass through the bus gate or bus lane would be able to access Park Street by St George’s Road, which could be approached via Park Row and/or Jacob Wells Roundabout.

Blue badge holders driving to the Park Street area will need to use St George’s Road to enter the scheme area as they will not be authorised to use the proposed bus gate at the top of Park Street or the bus lane at the bottom of College Green.
General traffic will need to use alternative routes. These routes may involve using Park Row, Jacob Wells Road or routes through the centre. Please see the through traffic maps below.

Above are four maps showing the direction traffic can take to avoid travelling down Park Street and through College Green, including junctions that handle through traffic, through traffic from Whiteladies Road, Traffic from St James Barton Roundabout, and through traffic from Jacob’s Wells Road.
Pay & display parking and disabled parking would be available on the west side of Park Street. Almost all pay & display parking would be removed from the Triangle. People needing to park nearby could access West End long-stay car park.
Proposals include adding 16 new disabled parking bays on Park Street and the Triangle.
There would be dedicated loading bays provided at regular intervals on Park Street and the Triangle.
Richmond Hill and Park Place would no longer be used by through traffic but would remain accessible from the west via Queens Road. Traffic would be two-way on Richmond Hill, helped by a turning circle at the eastern end of Richmond Hill.
Charlotte Street and Great George Street would remain accessible, although traffic would use St George’s Road to access Park Street.

Great George Street would be one-way from the junction of Park Street to the junction of Hill Street and Charlotte Street would be one-way from the junction of Hill Street to Park Street. The rest of Great George Street and Charlotte Street would remain two-way.
Pedestrian access would be improved, benefitting from wider pavements and better crossings within the scheme area. Improvements to public space throughout the area would also enhance the pedestrian experience.

New signalised pedestrian crossings, crossing points at the same level as pavements, informal crossings, and crossing build outs would be installed as part of this project.

A new segregated cycleway connecting Whiteladies Road with Park Row would improve cycle access to the project area. Reducing vehicular traffic on Park Street would improve the cycling experience there.

Proposals include increasing the number of dedicated parking areas for bicycles and scooters.
We are proposing a series of improvements to a number of public spaces across the central section of the route, including:
- Queens Road public space – located close to the Victoria Rooms and running alongside Richmond Hill, Park Place and Queens Road. The Gloucestershire Regiment Boer war statue would be relocated within this space which would benefit from new trees, more green space, and seating areas.
- Triangle West – wider pavements and trees at its northern end.
- University Road – tree planting, green spaces and seating areas.
- Berkeley Avenue – more trees and areas for businesses to place café tables and chairs.
- Park Street Avenue – following timed loading access in the mornings, Park Street Avenue would benefit from areas where businesses could place café tables and chairs.
- Great George/Charlotte Street – the new one-way systems to and from Hill Street would provide space for more trees, benches and cycle racks.
- Park Street – The east (downhill) side of Park Street would include a wider pavement that tapers from Park Street Avenue to St George’s Road, that would provide up to two metres of additional pavement width that would allow for a variety of public space uses, including low level planters, benches, areas for tables and chairs to be used by businesses, and cycle and scooter hire parking. On the western side of the street there would be crossing build outs that, when working with continuous pavements on the side streets, would provide pedestrians with a level surface.