Avon Crescent in Bristol is to be reopened to cars

Avon Crescent has been closed to vehicles for the past three years

A road close to a city harbourside is set to be reopened to cars.

Avon Crescent in Bristol has become popular with walkers and cyclists since it was temporarily closed to traffic three years ago,

Bristol City Council's plans to allow vehicles on it again have sparked safety and pollution concerns.

A Bristol Cycling Campaign spokesman said reopening it to traffic would cause "unnecessary danger" to pedestrians and cyclists

Under the plans, Avon Crescent - which runs between the River Avon and Bristol's Floating Harbour - will become a one-way road for cars travelling eastbound from Merchants Road to Cumberland Road.

According to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, the council is planning to reopen the road to traffic when repair works are finished on the Chocolate Path later this year.

Council bosses have defended the controversial plan, saying a new planned bus gate down Cumberland Road will lead to a steep drop in traffic.

In planning documents, a council officer said: "The proposed bus gate on Cumberland Road will significantly reduce the level of traffic using Avon Crescent when compared to before the Chocolate Path repair closure, meeting many of the objectives for changes to the road.

"The closure of Avon Crescent currently in place for the Chocolate Path repair work will cease in early 2023 and it is proposed that the bus gate come into effect at the same time."

Green Councillor Patrick McAllister, representing Hotwells and Harbourside, said: "I share concerns of residents who feel their safety and health will be imperilled by reopening Avon Crescent to traffic.

"The route is now more fully integrated as a walking and cycling route, and this newfound use of the road would be in all likelihood wiped out if it reopened to traffic."

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