Transport schemes in Bristol, Bath and Weston get £73m

The rapid transit bus route will run from Ashton Vale to the Temple Meads train line

Three transport schemes in the West of England are to receive £73m in funding, the government has announced.

The first scheme will see buses linking north Bristol areas such as Cribbs Causeway with the city centre and Hengrove in the south.

In Weston, improvements will be made to junction 21 of the M5 while Bath's park-and-ride sites will be expanded.

A bus rapid transit scheme from Ashton Vale to Temple Meads was also given £35m of funding in November.

The Bristol north fringe route will cost £102m in total with half coming from the Department for Transport (DfT) and a further £51m coming from local councils and third-party businesses.

The route will see an extra bus-only junction added to the M32 between Frenchay and Easton.

New bypass

Further consultation on the planned route will take place from 2012 with construction due to begin in December 2013.

The route will also include a new bypass route for Stoke Gifford and is planned to be in operation for 2016.

In Bath, the scheme will see capacity at the city's park-and-rides increase from 1,990 to 2,880 spaces.

It will cost £32m in total with £12m from the DfT and £20m from the local council and other third parties.

New priority bus routes and active traffic management will be put in place along with real time information for parking spaces.

The scheme in Weston will see improvements to the town's motorway junction and a new interchange and car park built at Worle railway station.