Two north Bristol bypass routes and new train station planned

The A432 at Coalpit Heath could benefit from funding

Plans for two bypass routes north of Bristol and the reopening of a railway station have taken a step forward.

The West of England Combined Authority (Weca) has approved a £500,000 funding boost to push forward feasibility work on the proposed roads linking Coalpit Heath with Westerleigh and Frampton Cotterell with Winterbourne.

The work will also find out if Charfield station can be brought back.

The works have been described as 'critical' for South Gloucestershire.

The Local Democracy Reporting Service said South Gloucestershire Council leader Toby Savage revealed the Coalpit Heath/Westerleigh study would include the "road to nowhere" in Yate, an unfinished stretch of dual carriageway which was abandoned after partial completion in the 1970s.

It is not open to motorists and is now used by filmmakers, including BBC One drama Casualty which recorded a huge petrol tanker explosion in May.

'Absolutely critical'

Mr Savage said the two road schemes would provide significant new links between Yate and Bristol as new housing developments were planned, and he had previously "expressed exasperation with how the planning system has worked in communities like Charfield, where we have seen unplanned growth".

"So getting on with reopening that station and getting it on the MetroWest network is absolutely critical for that northern part of South Gloucestershire," he added.

Weca, made up of South Gloucestershire, Bristol city and Bath & North East Somerset councils, approved £300,000 from its £30m annual investment fund towards preparing an outline business case for the train station, which will include progressing work and discussions with Network Rail.

The other £200,000 is allocated to the bypass projects.