Council steps in to save threatened bus route
Residents in Pilning and Severn Beach, Patchway, Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge to benefit from a more frequent local service
Conservative campaigners are delighted following a decision by South Gloucestershire Council to fill the gap left by First Group's re-routing of a much-needed bus service.
First have decided to carry out their proposal to change the route of bus service 75 in Patchway from 1st February. The service will no longer run along Rodway Road, Durban Road and Bradley Road in Patchway and it will also terminate at Cribbs Causeway Bus Station rather than at Cribbs Causeway's Asda store. First say the change is necessary because of parked vehicles in Patchway causing an obstruction to passing buses.
However, the Council has decided to step in and enhance supported bus service 625 - operated by Wessex Connect - which will lead to more services running from Severn Beach through Pilning, Patchway, Cribbs Causeway, Stoke Lodge and onto Bristol Parkway and UWE's Frenchay campus. Crucially, more 625 services will run along Rodway Road, Durban Road and Bradley Road in Patchway. Wessex Connect uses smaller buses so the problems of parked vehicles are not so severe.
The current frequency of the 625 is limited (2-hourly) and so the Council has now negotiated with Wessex Connect to deliver an hourly service throughout the day on Mondays to Saturdays. This is planned to be effective
from 1st February 2009.
The improved frequency of the 625 will:
* maintain a local bus link between the central part of Patchway and Cribbs Causeway (The Mall, Asda and the stops near Morrisons);
* offer an improved frequency between Severn Beach and Cribbs Causeway which has been a concern in the Pilning and Severn Beach communities;
* offer improved journey opportunities from Pilning and Severn Beach across to Bristol Parkway and UWE;
* offer improved journey opportunities from Stoke Gifford, Little Stoke and Stoke Lodge to Asda and the Lysander Road part of Cribbs Causeway (Retail Park, Morrisons etc);
Cllr Brian Hopkinson, Stoke Lodge district and Patchway town councillor, added:
"First's changes to the 75 service in Patchway would have left a significant number of local people, particularly the elderly, without easy access to a local bus service and so we are really pleased that the Council is stepping
in to fill the gap."
Pilning resident, Robert Griffin, said:
"Many residents have had concerns about the frequency of the buses that serve Pilning and Severn Beach, so I am delighted with the Council's pro active response to the green travel needs of the area. I hope this improved
service will be very well supported."
Stoke Gifford councillor, Justin Howells said:
"Our local roads are heavily congested and so anything the Council can do with the limited resources it gets given to make it easier for commuters to use local buses to get to Cribbs Causeway, Parkway station and UWE has got
to be welcomed."
His Stoke Gifford colleague, Cllr Keith Cranney added:
"This decision to improve the 625 should encourage more people to leave their cars behind and use our local buses."
The Council's decision to enhance the 625 is in addition to a review it is undertaking of parking restrictions and other measures that may be installed along Rodway Road, Durban Road and Bradley Road in Patchway to address the difficulties that large buses have had travelling along these roads.
Resources to implement changes are likely to come from traffic management funds set aside by the developers of the Northfield site in Patchway.
