Creswicke Road residents start petition to tackle speeding traffic

Residents of Creswicke Road have started a new petition this month in a bid to tackle speeding traffic – which they fear is putting local children in danger.

And they are calling on Bristol City Council to curb speeding in the street as a priority for the New Year – by introducing traffic calming measures like those on neighbouring roads.

They say the residential street – used as a shortcut to avoid Hengrove Way and Hartcliffe Way – has seen a considerable increase in traffic in the last couple of years. 

Creswicke Road is also part of the new Metro Bus route but they say no improvement works were made to account for this.

Emily, who lives on the street has been campaigning for change for the past year – and started a previous petition in August.

She says she has already contacted the Community Speed Watch Team – which has highlighted that managing speeding is not just their responsibility.

She says: “Creswicke Road is a residential street and the Community Speed Watch Team have shown – on many visits – that traffic is travelling at twice the legal limit (20 mph). We want our local authority to put residents first, so that we can live on a safe and less noisy road, like others in the area.

“Speed limits are only one element of speed management and local speed limits should not be set in isolation.

“They should be part of a package with other measures to manage speeds, which include engineering, visible interventions and landscaping standards that respect the needs of all road users and raise the driver’s awareness of their environment.”

Emily says when she contacted the council last year she was told people should park on the road to discourage speeding – but much of the road had double yellow lines so this was not possible.

Speeding figures she has obtained for the street from October 2019 to July this year show on the 24 occasions the road was monitored, the majority of time for half an hour, a total of 274 cars were travelling over the 20 mph limit – with the highest speed recorded at 44 mph.

John, who has lived on the road for much of his life, says traffic “has got much worse” in recent years.

He says: “People use it as a rat run, coming off the other roads onto Creswicke and speeding up. They forget it’s somewhere people live.”

A new petition was given out to residents at the beginning of December reflecting parents’ concerns about the pollution levels and safety for children.

The road passes alongside Filwood playing fields, is not far from Christ the King Primary School and connects to Filwood Broadway which is part of the Filwood Greenway cycling route.

A Bristol City Council spokesperson said: “It is important that the city’s roads and streets are safe, efficient and accessible to everyone and we constantly monitor road safety and identify any problem areas.

“Citizens can report their road safety concerns or request an improvement or change to the road on the council website (https://www.bristol.gov.uk/improve-my-street) and can also raise those concerns with their local ward member.

“Bristol’s area committees make decisions on how local funds are spent to support improvements in their areas, including reviewing and prioritising road safety schemes.

“While the council is not responsible for enforcing speed limits, such issues can also be raised with the police, while the Community SpeedWatch scheme also allows local people to be actively involved in road safety.”

The petition is asking residents to sign and post their concerns to the council’s Democratic Services at City Hall, email Cllr Chris Jackson at cllr.christopher.jackson@bristol.gov.uk or contact the council via democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk