Bristol's Temple Gate layout change planned in £21m revamp

[whole diary]

[TonyK]

But look what's been happening in the last 30 years: Queen Square and College Green are now superbly restored, and while The Dibleys were subverting their MetroBus Millions to build long-dreamed-of road schemes, Bristol used their bit to turn The Centre from a traffic system into something like a public plaza.

Put like that, MetroBust almost sounds like a good idea.

There's apparently a vacancy for a spin doctor at MetroBust - Comical Ali is leaving because he is fed up of having to exaggerate all the time. Interested?

[Red Squirrel]

Interested?

No.

[simonw]

telling the current situation, clearly (truth ?), would be a good start for a MetroBus Spin Doctor.

[Phantom]

Has anyone seen any updated road plans for this area
Noticed earlier in the week going past on a bus, that the way the new kerbstones are being put in place as shown below, looks like there is a new lane of traffic being built in, but due to the angle of it - roughly as shown below I can't figure out where it is going to and from??

[Red Squirrel]

The final scheme will look a lot like this:



Edit: The bit you've highlighted looks like a cycle lane.

[Bmblbzzz]

The final scheme will look a lot like this:

The thing the "forget" to include when making those mockups is realistic levels of traffic (of all sorts).

[Red Squirrel]

I dunno; Google saw even less when they whizzed overhead: https://goo.gl/maps/uMypJUagmG42

[Noggin]

If you go to the image itself at https://i2.wp.com/www.bristoltemplequarter.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/Temple-Gate-Aerial-bridge2.jpg?ssl=1 you can see it at a much larger size.

There is certainly some cyclepath, though to be honest it seems very piecemeal. There seem to be three new bus-stops to replace the one outside the Holiday Inn - a bit of a hike to the station to say the least, but might be convenient when they finally get around to extending the station. Presumably at least one of those will be for MetroBus. IIRC^▸ (if I recall/remember/read correctly) the original plan was that when the extension to the station was built, the current ramp would become some kind of green space, with taxis, buses and drop-off moving to the north side of the station.

Note also that the council is trying to CPO the derelict Grosvenor Hotel with the intention of building an Engine Shed 2 in conjunction with Skanska, so that great plaza in front of the town hall is likely to be significantly reduced in size. Skanska also own the square piece of land between B&E^‡(resolve) house and the station currently used as a construction base.

It may also be of interest that the council own the building that the Holiday Inn is in. That presumably will be worth a fair few quid in the years to come   

[Red Squirrel]

I presume that by 'Town Hall' you mean the Citizen Service Point at 100 Temple Street? It was always the intention that there would be new buildings backing onto Victoria Street and Temple Gate; these will give the new plaza some enclosure and should hopefully make it a more pleasant place. Engine Shed 2 is planned to be to the south of the plaza, taking the sites of the Grosvenor Hotel and the George Railway Hotel.

As for the Holiday Inn: the sooner they tear that building down, the better - though perhaps they should wait until Marvin moves on as goodness knows what abomination he'd come up with to replace it. Thinks: If only we had a mayor who knew something about architecture, regeneration and town planning... we can dream.

[Red Squirrel]

Cabinet decision advances regeneration of Temple Quarter

Plans for the redevelopment of a prominent area in the Temple Quarter took a step forward this week with the Bristol City Council Cabinet decision to approve the Joint Development and Land Agreement for Engine Shed 2, Temple Square and Station Approach.

The decision paves the way for the comprehensive redevelopment of the Temple Circus site, a goal the council has been seeking since 2008. The scheme aims to create a first class welcome to Bristol for passengers arriving into Temple Meads and will improve links between the station and city centre. It also opens up new land for employment space – contributing to the council’s ambitious targets for creating jobs in the Enterprise Zone.

As part of this, there are plans for the George & Railway building to be transformed into Engine Shed 2, providing follow-on space from the original Engine Shed for rapidly growing companies.  The Cabinet decision authorises use of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to enable redevelopment of the neighbouring Grosvenor Hotel building, should ongoing negotiations with the current owners fail.

Councillor Craig Cheney commented:

“Temple Square is a gateway to the Temple Quarter and we are making good progress towards improving the road layout and opening up new development land in this area. It’s now time to focus on how we can move forward with the redevelopment of these eyesore buildings – not only to provide a better first impression of Bristol but also to create new jobs and opportunities as part of a thriving city centre.”

Source: Bristol Temple Quarter blog

[TonyK]

I'm sure the George and Railway was closed when I moved to Bristol in 1977. So about time, although given Bristol's track record, this announcement probably means that things like Engine Shed 2 are about to go out of fashion.

[Red Squirrel]

I'm sure the George and Railway was closed when I moved to Bristol in 1977. So about time, although given Bristol's track record, this announcement probably means that things like Engine Shed 2 are about to go out of fashion.

I think I may have had a pint or two of Courage Best there in 1978, but let's not quibble.

It is perhaps unfair to blame the paralysis of this site on Bristol City Council; as I remember it the problem is that the two buildings - The George Railway Hotel (for so long idiomatically referred to as the George and Railway that this is now its actual name!) and the Grosvenor Hotel - were owned by two equally-powerful developers who both wanted the whole site; the only way out of the impasse was a CPO but Bristol were worried about the legal costs. I'm not sure what has changed that means Bristol is no longer afraid of this - perhaps now that the site is bigger, they can afford to throw caution to the wind.

[Red Squirrel]

An update:

Significant progress has been achieved on the Temple Circus scheme this year and works will continue in the New Year, with the project on track to be completed in autumn 2019.

From Monday 7 January, work will start on junction improvements at the Bath Bridges roundabout. To allow space for contractors to work safely, Clarence Road will be closed to eastbound traffic for approximately 12 weeks while these improvements are underway. Traffic will be redirected via York Road but drivers are advised to allow extra time for their journey, or plan an alternative route if possible.

Clarence Road will remain open for westbound traffic during the day throughout these works. However, there will be night works taking place on 7-11 January (inclusive) and 14-15 January, meaning the road will be closed in both directions from 8pm to 6am on these dates.

Full article: https://www.bristoltemplequarter.com/temple-gate-update/

This image, from the same source, gives a good indication of how much space is being released for better uses by this scheme:  the light brown and light grey areas in the centre of this image were mostly taken up by motor roads not long ago.

[Dispatch Box]

Are they Altering this to move the station parking to the rear of brunels train shed to make it back into platforms.

[martyjon]

Are they Altering this to move the station parking to the rear of brunels train shed to make it back into platforms.

I presume the car (covered) parking in the train shed will go but the area at the back of the train shed that you refer to on the depicted model is already car parking.