Region: Bristol

Initial work that will allow a busy junction in Broadmead to be improved will get underway later this month.

Part of the wider Broadmead scheme – to reduce traffic in pedestrian priority areas, improve bus services and make routes safer and more appealing for walking, wheeling and cycling – plans for Union Street’s junction with The Haymarket, Lewins Mead and Rupert Street include:

• Redesigning the pedestrian crossing
• Adding two-way separated cycle paths, going north to south between Union Street and Lower Maudlin Street, and from east to west on The Haymarket and Lewins Mead
• Introducing a two-way bus-only route along Union Street
• A new left-hand turn from The Haymarket for access to The Horsefair and for buses to access Union Street and travel southbound (previously only northbound)
• A new right-hand turn junction to allow buses heading north from Union Street to join The Haymarket from the bottom of Union Street
• Retaining the right-hand turn for buses heading south from Lower Maudlin Street to join Bridewell Street from the bottom of Union Street
• Improving public spaces, including planting new trees
• Reducing traffic on streets with high pedestrian numbers

The scheme will also see 30 trees planted, as part of the council’s commitment to increase the number of trees in the city. This will build on the 100,000 trees already planted as part of the One Tree Per Child and Trees for Streets Programme. The highways and landscapes tree planting programme also aims to plant 2,000 new trees with help from local communities over the next three years.

The initial work includes removing three silver maple trees towards the end of February. This will allow work to take place to transform Union Street’s junction with The Haymarket, Lewins Mead and Rupert Street. Removing two of the trees will also make way for a section of the Bristol heat network to be installed, where options for the route in this location are limited because of high levels of underground utility pipes and wires.

Although construction work is not expected to get underway until later this year, all three trees need to have their branches removed ahead of bird nesting season in the spring. They will be removed carefully overnight to reduce disruption and turned into wood chips away from the site to limit noise. Tree stumps of 1.5m will remain in place until the next stage of construction.

The Broadmead scheme is part of the council’s City Centre project to improve Bristol’s transport network in preparation for thousands of new homes to be built in the area. It includes introducing around 10 tennis courts worth of pedestrian priority streets and joining up bus and cycling infrastructure throughout the city centre.

Towards the end of 2025, the council carried out a statutory consultation on plans to remove the three trees.

Read more about the plans and download the decision notice.

The City Centre project, which includes the Broadmead scheme, is being funded by the UK Government through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement, secured by the West of England Mayoral Combined Authority.

Press release by Bristol City Council.