62-531: The A4174 is a major ring road in England which runs around the northern and eastern edge of Bristol , mainly in South Gloucestershire , and through the southern suburbs of the city. When it was first conceived it was planned to circle the whole of Bristol, and is commonly referred to as the " Avon Ring Road ", or less accurately the " Bristol Ring Road ", on road signs. The road does not circle
124-403: A cap on fares. They suggested that the services would not be viable on a commercial basis. MetroBus had said in 2016 that public subsidy might be needed to attract an operator. In June 2017, it was announced that First West of England would run services on the first route to open – at that time expected to be the m2 from Long Ashton – and would not receive any public funding. In April 2018, it
186-413: A city or town, with the standard of road being anything from an ordinary city street up to motorway level. An excellent example of this is London's North Circular/South Circular ring roads, which are largely made up of (mainly congested) ordinary city streets. In some cases, a circumferential route is formed by the combination of a major through highway and a similar-quality loop route that extends out from
248-669: A complete belt road around Hawaii Island . Other major U.S. cities with such a beltway superhighway: There are other U.S. superhighway beltway systems that consist of multiple routes that require multiple interchanges and thus do not provide true ring routes. Two designated examples are the Capital Beltway around Harrisburg, Pennsylvania using Interstate 81 , Interstate 83 , and Pennsylvania Route 581 and "The Bypass" around South Bend, Indiana using Interstate 80 , Interstate 90 , U.S. Route 31 , and Indiana State Road 331 . Edmonton , Alberta, has two ring roads. The first
310-676: A complete loop could be achieved by following the A4, the M5 and M4. The 2005 Greater Bristol Strategic Transport Study, commissioned by the regional government office , recommended construction of the new southern route to tackle congestion. The proposals follow the route set aside west from Hengrove Park roundabout to the A38 at Castle Farm (phase 1), and from there to the A370 near Long Ashton Park and Ride (phase 2). There are additional recommendations (phase 3) for
372-659: A direct road from the A4 Hicks Gate roundabout to the large roundabout in Hengrove Park, obviating the use of the A4 to bridge this "missing link", were scrapped. This outline plan had blighted homes on the possible route for a number of years. In 2021, South Gloucestershire council proposed a £30 million scheme of road-widening and other improvements, including converting three more roundabouts to throughabouts (hamburger roundabouts), which would take three years of works. A public consultation elicited 84% opposition to
434-599: A joint project between Bristol , North Somerset and South Gloucestershire councils. The first route, service m3, began operations on 29 May 2018, followed by m2 on 3 September 2018, m1 on 6 January 2019 and m4 on 22 January 2023. MetroBus is part of a package of transport infrastructure improvements in the West of England which have been designed to help unlock economic growth, tackle poor public transport links in South Bristol, long bus journey times and high car use in
496-618: A new Whitchurch bypass from Hengrove Park roundabout, along the base of Dundry Hill, around Stockwood and joining the existing A4174 at Hicks Gate roundabout on the A4. Phase one and two of the ring road are the only major road building schemes adopted by the Joint Local Transport Plan, which claimed they would reduce delays across the Greater Bristol area by 6%, and lead to a 9% increase in public transport use. Bristol City Council has endorsed all three phases, and
558-873: A result, the revised economic appraisal in 2014 projected significantly lower passenger numbers than the original appraisal in 2011. An addition to the North Fringe package was proposed in 2015. The Cribbs Patchway MetroBus Extension (CPME) will provide a more direct route from Bristol Parkway railway station to Cribbs Causeway, via housing developments at Filton Airfield . The scheme's promoters claimed in 2014 that it would reduce journey times by up to 75% between Long Ashton park & ride and Hengrove Park . In 2015, services were expected to begin in 2017, although this date subsequently slipped. The first route (m3) commenced on 29 May 2018. Route m2 commenced on 3 September 2018 and route m1 in January 2019. In 2018,
620-503: A ring road or ring road system: In Iceland , there is a 1,332 km ring road, called the ring road (or Route 1), around most of the island (excluding only the remote Westfjords ). Most of the country's settlements are on or near this road. Major cities that are served by a ring road or ring road system: MetroBus (Bristol) MetroBus (stylised as metrobus ) is a bus rapid transit system in Bristol , England, created as
682-528: A through-the-city route there, with the Beltway encircling the city as I-495. The portion of I-95 entering the city from the south was soon completed (and so signed), primarily by adapting an existing major highway, but the planned extension of I-95 through residential areas northward to the Beltway was long delayed, and eventually abandoned, leaving the eastern portion of the Beltway as the best Interstate-quality route for through traffic. This eastern portion of
SECTION 10
#1732773012260744-634: A town or city, typically without either signals or road or railroad crossings. In the United States, beltways are commonly parts of the Interstate Highway System. Similar roads in the United Kingdom are often called "orbital motorways". Although the terms "ring road" and "orbital motorway" are sometimes used interchangeably, "ring road" often indicates a circumferential route formed from one or more existing roads within
806-532: A true ring road around Detroit is effectively blocked by its location on the border with Canada and the Detroit River ; although constructing a route mostly or entirely outside city limits is technically feasible, a true ring around Detroit would necessarily pass through Canada, and so Interstate 275 and Interstate 696 together bypass but do not encircle the city. Sometimes, the presence of significant natural or historical areas limits route options, as for
868-405: Is a loose conglomeration of four major arterial roads with an average distance of 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the downtown core. Yellowhead Trail forms the northern section, Wayne Gretzky Drive /75 Street forms the eastern section, Whitemud Drive forms the southern and longest section, and 170 Street forms the western and shortest section. Whitemud Drive is the only section that
930-409: Is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducing traffic volumes in the urban centre, such as by offering an alternate route around the city for drivers who do not need to stop in the city core. Ring roads can also serve to connect suburbs to each other, allowing efficient travel between them. The name "ring road"
992-413: Is a true controlled-access highway , while Yellowhead Trail and Wayne Gretzky Drive have interchanges and intersections and are therefore both limited-access roads . 170 Street and 75 Street are merely large arterial roads with intersections only. The second and more prominent ring road is named Anthony Henday Drive ; it circles the city at an average distance of 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) from
1054-417: Is challenging when a through highway and a loop bypass together form a circumferential ring road. Since neither of the highways involved is circumferential itself, either dual signage or two (or more) route numbers is needed. The history of signage on the Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C., is instructive here. Interstate 95 , a major through highway along the U.S. East Coast , was originally planned as
1116-520: Is not currently operated as no operator will run services without a subsidy. It is anticipated that when a large housing development is built near the route, the service will become commercially viable. In central Bristol, The Centre was re-modelled and partly pedestrianised as part of the project. Many sections of the Metrobus routes also include a shared use path for multi-modal transport. The £200 million project started in 2006, developed by
1178-846: Is used for the majority of metropolitan circumferential routes in Europe, such as the Berliner Ring , the Brussels Ring , the Amsterdam Ring , the Boulevard Périphérique around Paris and the Leeds Inner and Outer ring roads. Australia , Pakistan and India also use the term ring road, as in Melbourne 's Western Ring Road , Lahore 's Lahore Ring Road and Hyderabad 's Outer Ring Road . In Canada
1240-624: The A38 at Filton , under the M32 motorway , through to Frenchay , Bromley Heath , Emersons Green , Kingswood , Warmley , and Longwell Green before joining the A4 at Hicks Gate junction near Keynsham . This section of the road is entirely dual carriageway and runs through several roundabouts with local routes. Many of these roundabouts formerly experienced long queues, but since 2005, most have been signalised, resulting in reduced congestion. The junction with
1302-500: The Capital Beltway around Washington, D.C. Some ring roads, such as Washington's Capital Beltway, use "Inner Loop" and "Outer Loop" terminology for directions of travel, since cardinal (compass) directions cannot be signed uniformly around the entire loop. The term 'ring road' is occasionally – and inaccurately – used interchangeably with the term ' bypass '. Bypasses around many large and small towns were built in many areas when many old roads were converted to four-lane status in
SECTION 20
#17327730122601364-474: The Frankfurt area, major national highways converge just outside city limits before forming one of several routes of an urban network of roads circling the city. Unlike in United States, route numbering is not a challenge on European ring roads as routes merge to form the single designated road. However, exit and road junction access can be challenging due to the complexity of other routes branching from or into
1426-943: The North and South Circular roads and the Inner Ring Road ). Birmingham also has three ring roads which consist of the Birmingham Box ; the A4540 , commonly known as the Middleway; and the A4040 , the Outer Ring Road. Birmingham once had a fourth ring road, the A4400 . This has been partially demolished and downgraded to improve traffic flow into the city. Other British cities have two: Leeds , Sheffield , Norwich and Glasgow . Cleveland, OH and San Antonio, TX , in
1488-812: The North Fringe of the city and M32 motorway corridor. The system uses "buy before you board" ticketing and the services have a reduced number of stops. MetroBus vehicles have priority over other traffic at junctions and use a combination of segregated busways and bus lanes. A mixture of double-decker buses are used: lines m2 and m3 use Alexander Dennis Enviro400 MMC buses on diesel Scania N250UD chassis, while lines m1 and m4 use Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City buses on compressed natural gas -powered Scania N280UD chassis. All buses have two doors, one for boarding and one for exiting, to shorten stop times. There are five routes: The South Bristol Link section, between Long Ashton park & ride and Hengrove Park,
1550-495: The United States , also each have two, while Houston, Texas will have three official ring roads (not including the downtown freeway loop). Some cities have far more – Beijing , for example, has six ring roads , simply numbered in increasing order from the city center (though skipping #1), while Moscow has five, three innermost ( Central Squares of Moscow , Boulevard Ring and Garden Ring ) corresponding to
1612-866: The 1930s to 1950s, such as those along the Old National Road (now generally U.S. 40 or Interstate 70 ) in the United States, leaving the old road in place to serve the town or city, but allowing through travelers to continue on a wider, faster and safer route. Construction of fully circumferential ring roads has generally occurred more recently, beginning in the 1960s in many areas, when the U.S. Interstate Highway System and similar-quality roads elsewhere were designed. Ring roads have now been built around numerous cities and metropolitan areas, including cities with multiple ring roads, irregularly shaped ring roads and ring roads made up of various other long-distance roads. London has three ring roads (the M25 motorway ,
1674-680: The 1950s and not yet completed, called the Suburban Beltway. It consists of several roads— Lagimodière Boulevard , Abinojii Mikanah , the Fort Garry Bridge, the Moray Bridge, William R Clement Parkway , Chief Peguis Trail and the Kildonan Bridge . Saskatoon , Saskatchewan, has a ring road named Circle Drive. It is cosigned as Saskatchewan Highway 16 and Saskatchewan Highway 11 along the whole route since
1736-415: The 2013 opening of Circle Drive South. Regina , Saskatchewan has a partial ring road that is named Ring Road ; however, due to the city's urban growth since the road was originally constructed, it no longer functions as a true ring road and has instead come to be used partially for local arterial traffic. The Regina Bypass , a new partial ring road, has replaced it, although Ring Road must still be used in
1798-707: The A4174 required the replacement of the Church Lane bridge for pedestrians and horses, near Emersons Green . The concrete bridge was demolished in December 2015 and replaced with a steel truss bridge in June 2016. Also in June 2016, the M32 was closed to allow the installation of a bus-only bridge. Work on this westward extension of the A4174 began in summer 2015 and involved the construction of: The South Bristol Link Road
1860-713: The Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route. Works for the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads MetroBus route include: Work began on the Stoke Gifford Transport Link (SGTL) and Bradley Stoke Way in August 2015 as part of the North Fringe to Hengrove Package. The work includes the construction of new roads, widening the carriageway, a bus only junction on the M32 and the creation of new bus lanes on the A4174 , Coldharbour Lane, Stoke Lane and SGTL. The widening of
1922-604: The Beltway ", derived metonymically from the Capital Beltway encircling Washington, D.C. Ring roads have been criticised for inducing demand , leading to more car journeys being taken and thus higher levels of pollution being created. By creating easy access by car to large areas of land, they can also act as a catalyst for development, leading to urban sprawl and car-centric planning. Ring roads have also been criticised for splitting communities and being difficult to navigate for pedestrians and cyclists. Most orbital motorways (or beltways) are purpose-built major highways around
A4174 road - Misplaced Pages Continue
1984-468: The Beltway was then redesignated from I-495 to I-95, leaving the I-495 designation only on the western portion, and the completed part of the planned Interstate inside the Beltway was redesignated as a spur, I-395 . A few years later, the resulting confusion from different route numbers on the circumferential Beltway was resolved by restoring I-495 signage for the entire Beltway, with dual signage for I-95 for
2046-590: The M32 motorway still experiences long delays despite the introduction of traffic lights. The road reappears 1.3 miles (2.1 km) along the A4 at Brislington , where it follows a valley, crosses the A37 , and reaches a large roundabout in Hengrove Park some 2 + 1 ⁄ 2 miles (4.0 km) south of the city centre. Here the road turns north, terminating at the A38 in Bedminster . A further section of
2108-461: The United States. In many cases, such as Interstate 285 in Atlanta, Georgia , circumferential highways serve as a bypass while other highways pass directly through the city center. In other cases, a primary Interstate highway passes around a city on one side, with a connecting loop Interstate bypassing the city on the other side, together forming a circumferential route, as with I-93 and I-495 in
2170-497: The West of England Partnership, a partnership between South Gloucestershire , Bristol and North Somerset and Bath and North East Somerset councils. Three routes were originally proposed: From its announcement, MetroBus (originally called 'BRT') proved controversial. In 2013 and 2014, incoming directly elected mayor George Ferguson decided to change the route of the Ashton Vale to Temple Meads service. Instead of travelling on
2232-854: The ambition for future expansion of the MetroBus network to link Bristol city centre to Bath via Keynsham , Clevedon via Nailsea , Yate , Thornbury and Avonmouth ; along with an orbital service linking Emersons Green to South Bristol . A service in Weston-super-Mare is also proposed. In August 2021, Bristol City Council opened a consultation on extending the m1 route from Hengrove Park to Imperial Park via Hawkfield Road. The current MetroBus network has shown signs of bus rapid transit creep ; primarily not fully operating on dedicated bus lanes for much of its routes, operating in mixed road traffic and being subject to traffic jams. In an open letter published in January 2020, James Freeman,
2294-592: The area of Lawrence, Massachusetts . However, if a primary Interstate passes through a city and a loop bypasses it on only one side (as in the Wilmington, Delaware , area), no fully circumferential route is provided. Within cities, ring roads sometimes have local nicknames; these include Washington DC's Interstate 495 (The "Capital Beltway"), Interstate 270 in Columbus, Ohio (The "Outerbelt"), and Interstate 285 in Atlanta (The "Perimeter"). Route numbering
2356-475: The city of Calgary , Alberta, for an entire length of 101-kilometre (63 mi). Winnipeg , Manitoba, has a ring road which is called the Perimeter Highway . It is designated as Manitoba Highway 101 on the north, northwest and east sides and as Manitoba Highway 100 on the south and southwest sides. The majority of it is a four-lane divided expressway . It has a second ring road, planned since
2418-614: The concentric lines of fortifications around the ancient city, and the two outermost ( MKAD and Third Ring ) built in the twentieth century, though, confusingly, the Third Ring was built last. Geographical constraints can complicate the construction of a complete ring road. For example, the Baltimore Beltway in Maryland formerly crossed Baltimore Harbor on a high arch bridge prior to its collapse in 2024, and much of
2480-509: The downtown core. It is a freeway for its entire 78-kilometre (48 mi) length, and was built to reduce inner-city traffic congestion, created a bypass of Yellowhead Trail, and has improved the movement of goods and services across Edmonton and the surrounding areas. It was completed in October 2016 as the first free-flowing orbital road in Canada. Stoney Trail is a ring road that circles
2542-665: The highway's concurrent use as a through Interstate on its eastern portion. The longest complete beltway in the United States is the Charles W. Anderson Loop , a 94-mile (151 km) loop in Texas that forms a complete loop around the Greater San Antonio area. The longest complete belt road, or a beltway that is only two lanes, in the United States is Hawaii Belt Road , a 260-mile (420 km) belt in Hawaii that forms
A4174 road - Misplaced Pages Continue
2604-542: The long-proposed Outer Beltway around Washington, D.C., where options for a new western Potomac River crossing are limited by a nearly continuous corridor of heavily visited scenic, natural, and historical landscapes in the Potomac River Gorge and adjacent areas. When referring to a road encircling a capital city, the term "beltway" can also have a political connotation, as in the American term " Inside
2666-560: The loss of 1.79 hectares of best and most versatile agricultural land ." The Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route was approved by the DfT in November 2013. The South Bristol Link part of the MetroBus scheme was approved in January 2015. By April 2016, construction had begun on the first three routes. Works for the fourth route began in February 2019. Construction started in early 2015 on
2728-548: The loss of 12 smallholdings, loss of long-held allotments, expansion into green belt land, and loss of Grade 1 soil and land at Feed Bristol, a community food-growing project. The scheme proposed mitigation for loss of allotments, soils etc but a report to the Development Control Committee for the meeting of 27 August 2014 stated: "Despite the proposed off-site mitigation, the NFHP scheme would result in
2790-492: The m3 route was intended to be extended at a later date from Emersons Green to Bristol Parkway, following works at the station to improve access for buses and other vehicles. This plan was superseded by the m4 route, between the City Centre and Cribbs Causeway via Bristol Parkway station, which commenced in January 2023. The estimated cost of the scheme initially was £200 million. The Ashton Vale to Temple Meads route
2852-489: The north side of Bristol Harbour along Hotwell Road or along the south side of the harbour and over Prince Street Bridge , it would follow Cumberland Road and Redcliff Hill calling near Temple Meads station and travelling around the inner ring road before reaching the city centre. This change would have implications for potential patronage: as the city centre was projected to be the most frequent destination, journey times for most passengers were significantly lengthened. As
2914-711: The northeast quadrant of the city. Hamilton , Ontario, has the Lincoln M. Alexander Parkway , Highway 403 and the Red Hill Valley Parkway which form a ring on three sides. Sudbury , Ontario, has a partial ring road consisting of the Southwest and Southeast Bypasses segment of Highway 17 , and the Northwest Bypass segment of Highway 144 . An unofficial northeast "bypass" route can also be completed on city arterial roads that largely bypass
2976-522: The parent road, later reconnecting with the same highway. Such loops not only function as a bypass for through traffic, but also to serve outlying suburbs . In the United States, an Interstate highway loop is usually designated by a three-digit number beginning with an even digit before the two-digit number of its parent interstate. Interstate spurs, on the other hand, generally have three-digit numbers beginning with an odd digit. Circumferential highways are prominent features in or near many large cities in
3038-691: The partially completed Stockholm Ring Road in Sweden runs through tunnels or over long bridges. Some towns or cities on sea coasts or near rugged mountains cannot have a full ring road. Examples of such partial ring roads are Dublin's ring road ; and, in the USA, Interstate 287 , mostly in New Jersey (bypassing New York City), and Interstate 495 around Boston , none of which completely circles these seaport cities. In other cases, adjacent international boundaries may prevent ring road completion. Construction of
3100-466: The plan, with objections including the long period of traffic disruption and that no bus lanes would be created, and consequently the council postponed its bid for government money for further consideration. 51°30′11″N 2°30′54″W / 51.50308°N 2.51497°W / 51.50308; -2.51497 Ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline , beltway , circumferential ( high ) way , loop or orbital )
3162-442: The railway with a wider concrete bridge, began in 2019 and was largely complete in August 2022. Services on the m4 route began in January 2023. As of February 2017, an operator for MetroBus services had not been found. An operator should have been in place 12 months prior to commencement of services (planned for Spring 2017), but bus companies were reluctant to invest in new buses to meet the requirements for MetroBus, whilst having
SECTION 50
#17327730122603224-532: The ring road. In 2021 the Wraxall Road roundabout was converted into a throughabout (hamburger roundabout), with a new six-lane route through the centre of the roundabout, intended to reduce congestion and accidents. There have been several proposals to extend the ring road from the junction with the A4 at Hicks Gate, Keynsham, along the southern edge of Bristol as far as the A370 at Long Ashton . From there
3286-476: The ring road. One of the most renowned ring roads is the Vienna Ring Road ( Ringstraße ), a grand boulevard constructed in the mid-19th century and filled with representative buildings. Due to its unique architectural beauty and history, it has also been called the "Lord of the ring roads", and is declared by UNESCO as part of Vienna's World Heritage Site . Major European cities that are served by
3348-533: The southern ring, the South Bristol Link Road, was opened in January 2017 and connects Hartcliffe (west of Hengrove Park) with the A370 near Long Ashton . A section of the dual carriageway south of Mangotsfield occupies the alignment of the former Mangotsfield and Bath branch line which closed in 1966. This railway was largely converted to the Bristol and Bath Railway Path , part of National Cycle Route 4 , which runs alongside this section of
3410-572: The term is the most commonly used, with "orbital" also used, but to a much lesser extent. In Europe and Australia, some ring roads, particularly longer ones of motorway standard, are known as "orbital motorways". Examples are the London Orbital (generally known as the M25; 188 km), Sydney Orbital Network (110 km) and Rome Orbital (68 km). In the United States many ring roads are called beltlines , beltways or loops , such as
3472-479: The urban core of the city, but are not fully controlled-access and must be shared with local traffic in the Nickel Centre and Rayside-Balfour districts of the city. Most major cities in Europe are served by a ring road that circles either the inner core of their metropolitan areas or the outer borders of the city proper or both. In major transit hubs, such as the Île-de-France region surrounding Paris and
3534-418: The whole city, instead covering roughly half of the route. It is broken in part where it is concurrent with the A4 . The road was conceived in the 1980s by Avon County Council , and the route of the initial section, east of Bristol, was selected by 1986. The road was built progressively in a number of sections, over an extended period of time. The completed section of the northern and eastern route runs from
3596-477: Was announced that the m1 route would be operated by Bristol Community Transport , under contract to First West of England, with the m2 and m3 services operated by First. HCT Group , the owners of Bristol Community Transport, announced at short notice in August 2022 that they would withdraw from the m1 service. First West of England took over the service after a two-day suspension. The West of England Combined Authority 's Joint Local Transport Plan has outlined
3658-554: Was completed and opened to traffic in early January 2017. The initial Metrobus network will not, however, run along the bus lanes of the Link Road, although the road is used by services between the city centre and Bristol Airport . A route to be known as 'm4', between the city centre and the Cribbs Causeway regional shopping centre, via Bristol Parkway and new housing built on the former Filton Airfield , began to be designed in 2014. Work to add short stretches of bus lane to existing roads, and replace Gipsy Patch Lane Bridge under
3720-434: Was estimated to be £102 million, with DfT contributing £51 million, £30.5 million from South Gloucestershire Council and £20.5 million from Bristol City Council. In 2016 estimated costs had increased to £216 million, and in 2017 to £230 million. MetroBus faced opposition from environmental groups who claimed the new bus-only junction over the M32 (North Fringe to Hengrove section) would mean
3782-461: Was hoping to begin construction of the first two phases in 2010 and 2011, and the third phase some time after 2016. In December 2015, construction began on widening sections of the ring road between the junction with the M32 and Wick Wick Roundabout, to create new bus lanes for MetroBus as part of its North Fringe to Hengrove route package. The works included replacement of the Church Lane foot/horse bridge. In July 2016, outline plans to build
SECTION 60
#17327730122603844-414: Was £49.6 million, of which the Department for Transport (DfT) would contribute £34.5 million. DfT would contribute £27.6 million, more than half of the total cost, to the South Bristol Link Road scheme which extends the A4174 ring road, with Bristol City Council contributing £8.4 million and North Somerset Council £5.3 million. The cost of the North Fringe to Hengrove package
#259740