The Transport Engagement team from Bristol City Council have sent FrANC an update on the emergency repairs to the New Cut alongside York Road and their plans to start the long-term repairs. The email they sent (which is reproduced below) also contains details of road closures and necessary vegetation clearance from the walls of the Cut.

“As you will be aware since July we have been placing hundreds of one-tonne bags on the bank of the river either side of Langton Street Bridge to reduce the tidal pressure on the river wall.

This emergency work is nearing completion, and we’re gearing up to start the permanent work to stabilise York Road and reduce the risk of collapse.

The permanent repairs will start from 28 October 2024, and will include:

• • installing a sheet-piled retaining wall at the top of the bank to stabilise York Road
  • building a concrete piled wall behind the existing river wall
  • planting trees and vegetation along the stabilised embankment

Partial road closure

We need to keep a section of York Road closed for the first stage of this work to allow our contractor enough space to start the permanent repairs.

The work site will remain where it is to start with, meaning York Road will stay closed between St Luke’s Road towards the Bath Bridges roundabout. Once this initial work is complete, the closure will move to the other side between St Luke’s Road and Spring Street.

The diversion via St Luke’s Road will remain in place, and access to York Road will be retained for residents, pedestrians and cyclists.

Motorcycles

Motorcycles must use the on-road diversion. There are signs on the road to reinforce this and we have put barriers in place to prevent people from driving on the pavements and have raised the issue with the police.

Timings

We expect the first stage of the permanent repair work to be completed in the spring of 2025. It will lead onto the second stage of the project, which will see York Road reopen to traffic but with one side of the road (plus pavement) remaining closed. Temporary traffic lights will be used so road traffic can travel in both directions.

The second stage of permanent repairs should take up to one year to complete, depending on factors such as bad weather and unexpected ground conditions.

Reasons for starting the permanent works

As our plans to stabilise York Road are designed and ready to go and our contractor is already mobilised on site, we have decided to start the permanent repairs as soon as possible.

Not only is it the most efficient way to get the work done, reducing the overall length of the project, it will lower the chance of the river wall collapsing, which would cause major disruption, not to mention the very real risk to life.

The work also needs to fit in with the sequencing of the repairs needed to Bath and Bedminster twin bridges.

We understand how inconvenient the road closure is. Thank you for your patience so far. We are asking you to bear with us again as we start on the permanent repairs that will safeguard York Road and the river wall for future generations.

Vegetation clearance

We need to remove vegetation – including plants, grass and weeds – from both sides of the New Cut river walls so we can assess any structural damage and plan in the repairs.

Under the guidance of ecologists, this work will start on Cumberland Road from the Create Centre and move along the New Cut towards Bathurst Bridge. It will then cross to other side of the river to Coronation Road, starting from the Texaco garage and going towards Bedminster Bridges.

This work will start on 28 October 2024 and is expected to take around three months to complete. It will mean sections of pavement will need to be closed temporarily, but it should not impact motorised traffic.

More information

You can keep up to date with the New Cut river walls repair programme at www.bristol.gov.uk/newcutriverwalls“