[library shot – the bollard has been repaired]
B&NES has announced it intends to make permanent a through traffic restriction in Sydney Road, Bath, following a six-month experimental trial.
The council has given formal notice of its intention to introduce a permanent Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) that would retain the restriction first installed as a trial in April 2024.
The restriction, in the form of a row of bollards at the junction of Sydney Road and New Sydney Place, aims to prevent motorists from using the residential road as a cut-through to avoid the traffic signals on the A36.
The restriction, trialled under the council’s Liveable Neighbourhoods programme, supports the council’s objectives to reduce traffic in residential areas and provide safer, quieter routes for those walking and cycling.
Full vehicle access to properties is maintained from either side of the bollards, with a turning area in place. Emergency services can remove the bollards if required.
The measure was introduced as part of the experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO), which included six months of monitoring and public consultation. In March 2025, based on the outcomes of this consultation, Cllr Mark Elliott, Cabinet Member for Resources, decided to make the scheme permanent, subject to completion of the formal TRO process.
Councillor Joel Hirst, Cabinet Member for Sustainable Transport Strategy, said: “The through-traffic trial scheme in Sydney Road at its junction with New Sydney Place followed consultation and co-design workshops on the Liveable Neighbourhood programme with the community.
“It was installed under an experimental traffic regulation order (ETRO) which allowed the council to monitor the impact of the trial on traffic and air quality as well as giving people an opportunity to comment on the scheme. All the evidence collected during the ETRO consultation informed the decision to make the trial permanent under a formal TRO.
“The trial prevented more than 3,500 vehicles a day from using a residential street as a cut-through to avoid traffic lights on the A36 – including heavy goods vehicles – and trial data tells us that this did not make a significant difference to traffic flows, journey times or air quality on the surrounding roads.
“We are now undertaking a full Traffic Regulation Order consultation, which is compliant with all the statutory requirements and will make the road changes permanent if approved. It gives people further opportunity to raise any objections or representations of support, and we will consider these alongside the results from the ETRO consultation when reaching a final decision in the autumn.”
Residents and stakeholders can comment on the proposed TRO, which will be available to view from 3 July at www.bathnes.gov.uk/permanent-traffic-order-notices (search for 25-012) or via the links at www.bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro.
Alternatively, you can request full details of the proposals together with a map and a statement of the council’s reasons for proposing to make the order by emailing council_connect@bathnes.gov.uk
Comments of support or objection, together with the grounds on which they are made, can be submitted via the online form at www.bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro. The consultation closes at 5 pm on Thursday, 24 July.
Those unable to use the online form may send their representations by email to LNs_tro@bathnes.gov.uk or by post, quoting reference number 25-012.
Feedback from the TRO consultation will be reviewed alongside data collected throughout the trial period and the original six-month consultation.
A final decision will be made by the Director of Place Management in consultation with the relevant Cabinet Member.
More information about the scheme and previous consultation outcomes is available at www.bathnes.gov.uk/sydneyroadetro.
PS. If the bollards stay, can we PLEASE have Sydney Road resurfaced as its current rutted state is dangerous for those on two wheels who are supposed to benefit from the restriction!!
Bathwick is now in daily chaos since closing Sydney Road for one resident. I have lived and worked in Sydney Wharf for 50 years and not ever experienced the present chaos before.
This scheme is a farce and a disgrace. It was created for the benefit of a major Libdem donator living in Bathwick; Manda Rigby’s budget principles of “use it or lose it”; and on entire data misinformation and skew by the supposed ‘consultation’.
Sydney Rd was never a ‘side road’.
It has the least number of residents on it than most other roads in Bath. It crosses a railway bridge and a canal !
Residents in nearby streets whom the Council claim are now “benefiting” from the scheme are now constantly bombarded with illegal parking aside their homes, continual noise disturbance 24/7 from police, fire & ambulance sirens as they are now stuck in traffic queues which previously flowed freely. The closed road is now being used as a school pick up point (by additional traffic!!) , a bike freewheeler run, and a mobile phone chat point. Quoting the LibDem’s own slogan in the last election: “Bollicks” to Bollards.
Fortress Bath. Largely pointless measures such as this simply add to the chaos and detract from the attraction of the city. Will they never learn?
Excellent scheme that has greatly improved the environment on this side of the park. There’s a reason LTNs are overwhelmingly popular with the public.
I cannot believe just how much time and money is being wasted on these ‘bollard’ projects! As I drive up Cavendish Road turning left up Sion Hill and the right into Sion Road I think “What’s the point? Driving up Winifred’s Lane was quicker, easier, passed fewer houses and saved fuel.”