���˿���

Year-long roadworks to upgrade pavements and bike lanes on a major city centre road will begin in March.

Bristol City Council will replace plastic bike lane bollards and add pedestrian crossings, traffic signals, loading and disabled parking bays on Park Row.

Temporary bike lanes were installed there during the Covid-19 pandemic.

But they received criticism from cyclists and business owners, with the bollards being driven over and the cycle lanes being used for parking.

The council has received £3.1m as part of the Department for Transport’s active travel programme for the upgrade, which covers Park Row, Perry Road, Upper Maudlin Street and Colston Street.

Work is due to finish by early 2025.

Labour Councillor Don Alexander, cabinet member for transport, said: “It will make this whole area more pleasant and safer for pedestrians and cyclists. I hope it will encourage many more people to travel actively."

No-entry signs will be installed at Lower Church Lane, and two bus stops on Park Row and Perry Road will be removed.

Speaking in January last year, Adam Crowther, head of city transport, said: “This scheme will put hard starts and finishes to a lot of those cycle lanes, so it feels more like a cycle lane rather than someone just putting a cone in the middle of the road that you can drive over if you want to.

“The traffic signals will be replaced, the bus stops will be upgraded, and there’ll be better pavements. It’s a big scheme, really ambitious, and it’ll be impressive when we get to a finalised permanent scheme.”