The changing face of Bristol

[rodent279]

Gypsy Patch update-the road closed today for 8 months, to allow for the bridge to be replaced over Easter, and the road and other works to be completed.

[rodent279]

3 not very well lit photos of the bridge, taken a couple of days after the road closure. I think the sheet piles mark the approximate extent of the new bridge.

Edited March 15, 2020 by rodent279

[JZ]

Just to let you Bristol people know, No services on the 'Beach' between the 09:11 BTM- Severn Beach and return and the 15:11 BTM-Severn Beach for the foreseeable future. Weston to Filton/Parkway are also suspended. Hourly between Bristol-Paddington. Weymouth trains will start/terminate at Westbury.

 

CHECK BEFORE YOU TRAVEL.

 

AND

 

DON'T UNLESS ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY.

[rodent279]

Reckon the next time I see that bridge it'll be rebuilt. Assuming of course that work continues unabated.

[rodent279]

On 15/03/2020 at 09:13, rodent279 said:

3 not very well lit photos of the bridge, taken a couple of days after the road closure. I think the sheet piles mark the approximate extent of the new bridge.

Anyone on here live close enough to include this bridge in their daily permitted exercise? I'm too far away to walk there and back in an hour. Would love to see how things are progressing.

Cheers N

[Tim V]

An empty Temple Meads today.

 

[JZ]

27 minutes ago, Tim V said:

An empty Temple Meads today.

 

It'll be like this when I arrive for work tomorrow. And when I go home.

 

[rodent279]

Gipsy Patch Bridge replacement postponed for now, due to Covid-19.

 

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/gypsy-patch-lane-works-postponed-4018796

[burgundy]

The slightly surprising headline from Bristol Live today 

'Iconic' first train station in Bristol designed by Brunel is bought by Network Rail.

Leave aside the use of "train station", evidently, the Brunel train shed has been owned by Bristol City Council since it ceased to be used by the railway.

Best wishes 

Eric 

[Joseph_Pestell]

9 minutes ago, burgundy said:

The slightly surprising headline from Bristol Live today 

'Iconic' first train station in Bristol designed by Brunel is bought by Network Rail.

Leave aside the use of "train station", evidently, the Brunel train shed has been owned by Bristol City Council since it ceased to be used by the railway.

Best wishes 

Eric 

 

I think that depends what you mean by "owned". I believe that City Council had a long lease not the freehold.

[Southof1E top tmd]

Apologies for Kodak Instamatic quality but those who spent hours/days/weeks at the West end of Temple Meads will have memories stirred by this view of 832 Onslaught on Bath Rd in October 72

 

NR

[ForestPines]

Bristol City Council has announced that the oldest buildings at Barton Hill shed will be added to its Local List of buildings that are not formally listed but whose heritage deserves recognition in the planning system.

 

The press release is at https://news.bristol.gov.uk/news/historic-industrial-buildings-have-their-moment-in-the-spotlight-in-bristols-local-list

 

You can see the entry for Barton Hill by going to https://maps.bristol.gov.uk/kyp/?edition=bristol&layer=Community layer&x=360468.4&y=172854.85&extent=167.18# and clicking on the arrow in the top-right of the "speech balloon"

[Bristol_Rich]

On 04/03/2020 at 22:51, rodent279 said:

Not that I'm aware of, I cycle through that bridge most days, and yes, I was thinking it would be a good idea. I think there's room, but it would be a much bigger job, as for a start, the bridge at Parkway carries about 6 roads.

Mostly if two buses meet, one waits for the other. It's not great for cyclists, although there is a cycle lane, you still get impatient motorists breathing down your neck, because the 10 seconds it takes you to cycle between the two roundabouts either side of the bridge is about 8.5 seconds too long for them.

Sorry, just noticed this post...

 

There has been some discussion recently to modify the bridge but not replace it.
 

There was a plan to incorporate an ‘avoiding portal bore’ through the embankment to allow for cyclists and pedestrians, keeping them away from the road.  Then the road could be ‘widened’ but no mention of what was going to be done with the arch of the original brick built bridge which remains to be the pinch point.

 

I don’t think think this ever got much further than an initial proposal (or even an idea!) and then COVID hit.

 

 

Edited September 18, 2020 by Bristol_Rich

[Corbs]

Hi folks, I was wondering if there were any trains still using the Portbury branch these days? I live next to it and have not seen a train in months, the railhead was quite rusty when I last saw it.

[Northmoor]

6 minutes ago, Corbs said:

Hi folks, I was wondering if there were any trains still using the Portbury branch these days? I live next to it and have not seen a train in months, the railhead was quite rusty when I last saw it.

.....Which makes it even more inexcusable that the Portishead re-opening project has taken so long and had its budget so massively inflated.  The cost increase is largely (I understood) to provide the necessary capacity for the regular passenger trains AND the Portbury freight.

[steam69]

27 minutes ago, Northmoor said:

.....Which makes it even more inexcusable that the Portishead re-opening project has taken so long and had its budget so massively inflated.  The cost increase is largely (I understood) to provide the necessary capacity for the regular passenger trains AND the Portbury freight.

I'm afraid, a lot of extra costs are down to private Consultants who view projects like this as a gravy train (pun intended), for example the Station proposed at Portishead is a stainless steel and glass monstrosity, a temporary Portacabin would be better until traffic figures prove a more permanent building is justified.

 

Richard 

Edited September 18, 2020 by steam69

[Northmoor]

52 minutes ago, steam69 said:

I'm afraid, a lot of extra costs are down to private Consultants who view projects like this as a gravy train (pun intended), for example the Station proposed at Portishead is a stainless steel and glass monstrosity, a temporary Portacabin would be better until traffic figures prove a more permanent building is justified.

 

Richard 

In that case it's not so much the consultants as the vanity of the project's sponsors, but I agree with you.  There can be few rail projects in the UK that could make such an immediate congestion/environmental benefit.  Bristol is supposed to be a centre of the green movement, but they have been pretty ineffectual at pushing to get this project built.

 

Get. It. Open.

 

Build the car park boundary, but surface enough in the central area for the initial traffic.  Build a full length platform but a minimalist station facility.  Run a 2-car unit every hour.  If/when the traffic starts to exceed capacity, add the extra facilities, parking and an extra unit (although the country's not not exactly awash with them). If you're filling a 4-car unit hourly, then upgrade the signalling and add a passing loop for the 30-minute interval service.

 

[rodent279]

On 25/04/2020 at 20:58, rodent279 said:

Anyone on here live close enough to include this bridge in their daily permitted exercise? I'm too far away to walk there and back in an hour. Would love to see how things are progressing.

Cheers N

Has anything happened here since C-19 hit? I've not been down that way since March, and have been told I won't be going into the office "unless there is no alternative", so no idea what the current state of play is.

 

Cheers N

[JZ]

32 minutes ago, rodent279 said:

Has anything happened here since C-19 hit? I've not been down that way since March, and have been told I won't be going into the office "unless there is no alternative", so no idea what the current state of play is.

 

Cheers N

The new bridge has been built, but I don't know the timescale of when it will be moved into position. I'm in the middle of two weeks annual leave at the moment and my next booked Cardiff trip is 1st October. I will try to remember to get a picture as I go past. 

[ForestPines]

Network Rail are currently saying the bridge move will be in 5 to 7 weeks from now, from October 24th to November 7th.

 

https://www.networkrail.co.uk/running-the-railway/our-routes/western/great-western-mainline/south-gloucestershire/

[talisman56]

On 15/09/2020 at 20:14, Southof1E top tmd said:

Apologies for Kodak Instamatic quality but those who spent hours/days/weeks at the West end of Temple Meads will have memories stirred by this view of 832 Onslaught on Bath Rd in October 72

 

NR

 

As well as the split-box 45 and the TTG 47. I mourn every time I go southbound out of BTM...

[burgundy]

The process to reopen the Portishead branch grinds forward.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/new-images-portisheads-long-awaited-4540943

The public examination that forms part of the Development Consent Order process begins next month.

There is also a visualisation of the proposed Portishead station. Hint - you will not need too many turnouts to build a model.

Best wishes 

Eric

[PatB]

I have always been most annoyed that the railways, since time immemorial, have constructed their infrastructure to carry the projected traffic efficiently, safely and economically, with nary a thought for the desire of the modeller for complex track formations, minimal signalling, impressive (and yet tiny) buildings etc. There should be a law against it.

[Andy Kirkham]

1 hour ago, burgundy said:

 Hint - you will not need too many turnouts to build a model.

 

 

But I'm pleased to see what looks like a proper station building and not just a shelter. I wonder if there's any possibility it might be staffed.

 

And I see a link by that story to an earlier one that I missed https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/metrowest-project-extended-gloucester-4245736

 

If MetroWest is extended to Gloucester, I should think that would make it much more likely that Charfield and Stonehouse Bristol Road might be reopened.

Edited September 26, 2020 by Andy Kirkham

[Northmoor]

2 hours ago, burgundy said:

The process to reopen the Portishead branch grinds forward.

https://www.bristolpost.co.uk/news/bristol-news/new-images-portisheads-long-awaited-4540943

The public examination that forms part of the Development Consent Order process begins next month.

There is also a visualisation of the proposed Portishead station. Hint - you will not need too many turnouts to build a model.

Best wishes 

Eric

North Somerset Council leader Councillor Don Davies said: "This is a hugely complex scheme that has to go through many stages in order to progress.

That says everything about why rail schemes take such a ridiculous time in the UK.  It is NOT complex, it is a single line a few kilometres long, where the track (needing replacement, obviously) is still in place and the land, except for the actual terminus site, is still owned by the railway authorities.  Yet apparently it's "complex" to build and re-open it.  That's because in Britain we actively look for people to object to things, then when we don't find them, look again, employ some environmental consultants to explain why it can't be done because they've discovered a rare newt (that apparently only exists on planned construction sites), get some unrelated planning offsets included for a few more million........ Meanwhile tens of thousands of people get into their cars and sit in queues trying to get into Bristol every day, for a few more years.