Bath and North East Somerset Council have this week launched the “South of England North-South Connectivity Prospectus” which sets out an economic case for better regional north-south connectivity. The prospectus lacks detail, but sets out a plan to get government approval over the next 2 years for investment in road infrastructure to improve north-south links. This potentially includes an A36-A46 link road to provide a bypass for traffic which currently travels through Bath via the Cleveland Bridge:
Transition Bath, based on our own analysis wonders whether one of the justifications used for the link road, air pollution, will actually make any difference? And, as pointed out by Adam Reynolds of CycleBath, the economic case for the link road might be overstated, because based on his analysis of the 2011 census most of Bath’s traffic travels less than 15 miles into Bath, weakening the councils’ economic case for long distance transport via Bath:
Last year, Transition Bath’s Transport Convenor, Ped Asgarian wrote an article on an alternative approach to the link road, and building more roads, suggesting more sustainable solutions,