Region: Bath & North East Somerset

Bath & North East Somerset Council is proposing to make permanent a through traffic restriction in Sydney Road, Bath following a six-month experimental trial. 

The council has given formal notice of its intention to introduce a permanent Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) that would retain the restriction first installed as a trial in April 2024. 

The restriction, in the form of a row of bollards at the junction of Sydney Road and New Sydney Place, aims to prevent motorists from using the residential road as a cut-through to avoid the traffic signals on the A36.

The restriction, trialled under the council’s Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, supports the council’s objectives to reduce traffic in residential areas and provide safer, quieter routes for those walking and cycling. 

Full vehicle access to properties is maintained from either side of the bollards, with a turning area in place. Emergency services can remove the bollards if required.

The measure was introduced as part of experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), which included six months of monitoring and public consultation. In March 2025, based on the outcomes of this consultation, Cllr Mark Elliott, Cabinet Member for Resources, decided to make the scheme permanent, subject to completion of the formal TRO process.

The through-traffic trial scheme in Sydney Road at its junction with New Sydney Place followed consultation and co-design workshops on the Liveable Neighbourhood programme with the community.

It was installed under an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) which allowed the council to monitor the impact of the trial on traffic and air quality as well as giving people an opportunity to comment on the scheme. All the evidence collected during the ETRO consultation informed the decision to make the trial permanent under a formal TRO. 

The trial prevented more than 3,500 vehicles a day from using a residential street as a cut through to avoid traffic lights on the A36 – including heavy goods vehicles – and trial data tells us that this did not make a significant difference to traffic flows, journey times or air quality on the surrounding roads.

We are now undertaking a full Traffic Regulation Order consultation which is compliant with all the statutory requirements and will make the road changes permanent if approved. It gives people further opportunity to raise any objections or representations of support, and we will consider these alongside the results from the ETRO consultation when reaching a final decision in the autumn.

Councillor Joel Hirst, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport Strategy

Residents and stakeholders can comment on the proposed Traffic Regulation Order 25-012 which is available to view from 3 July either via bathnes.gov.uk/permanent-traffic-order-notices (search for 25-02) or the links at bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro.

Alternatively, you can request full details of the proposals together with a map and a statement of the council’s reasons for proposing to make the order by emailing [email protected]

Comments of support or objection, together with the grounds on which they are made, can be submitted via the online form at bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro. The consultation closes at 5pm on Thursday 24 July.

Those unable to use the online form may send their representations by email to [email protected] or by post, quoting reference number 25-012.

Feedback from the TRO consultation will be reviewed alongside data collected throughout the trial period and the original six-month consultation. 

A final decision will be made by the Director of Place Management in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member. 

More information about the scheme and previous consultation outcomes is available at bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro.

Press release by Bath & North East Somerset Council.