Council defends bus gate from ‘illegal’ claims.

Bristol City Council has defended its installation of a bus gate on a key city center route after an angry driver wrote a 150-page report to a tribunal explaining why tens of thousands of fines issued to motorists should be invalid.

Matt Sanders produced the substantial report, which he sent to the Road Traffic Tribunal, detailing why he claims the Cumberland Road bus gate was installed incorrectly and why all the thousands of drivers caught driving through it should be disqualified the fines.

The city council said the government’s national guide on how to set up a bus gate says legally only two signs are needed to signal the presence of a bus gate, but the one on Cumberland Road has 14 – and the council recently repainted the road approaching the bus gate a different color to warn drivers about it.

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The council has installed a bus gate for eastbound traffic along Cumberland Road – the road along the north bank of the New Cut Avon River. It means that cars, vans and lorries cannot continue along Cumberland Road to the Redcliffe side of the Bedminster Bridge roundabout, effectively making Spike Island and the area around SS Great Britain a cul-de-sac for private vehicles when approached from the west.

It was installed in August 2023, and when ANPR cameras were installed in December, the council began issuing warnings to drivers who drove through it. This lasted until January 2 when fines began to be issued – with drivers told they had to pay £70 each time they passed the bus gate, which could be reduced to £35 if I pay immediately.

Mr Sanders, of Windmill Hill, said the bus gate had caught an extraordinary number of drivers, particularly compared to similar bus gates in Bristol and around the country. Figures released by Bristol City Council showed the council is issuing penalty notices at a rate of around 10,000 a month and if the current rate continued until the end of the year, the bus gate could see the council making up to £100,000. 4 million in fines revenue – from Cumberland Road alone.

Mr Sanders said the location of the road contributed to this, with motorists using Cumberland Road as an alternative route to the town center from Portway and North Somerset – which was one of the town council’s intentions in installing it in the first place. It’s also close to the SS Great Britain and the Baltic Wharf caravan site, meaning it’s a road that sees plenty of visitors.

Bristol Live has reported many times since 2022 that the bus gate is coming – it has been controversial, with many residents and drivers objecting to the idea. Bristol Live then reported that it was installed over the August weekend that the Cumberland Road had been reopened to traffic and again about the number of fines issued. And Bristol Live also reported on the council laying new red tarmac around the bus gate in April.

Mr Sanders’ report said the Department for Transport’s rules on bus signage were “open, vague, ambiguous and incomplete” and allowed local councils to install bus and man gates where the meaning of a bus gate remained vague.

He said the current blue sign, indicating that buses, motorbikes, bicycles and taxis could pass, was not clear enough that private vehicles – cars, vans and lorries – would be fined if they did so.

What Bristol Live told readers about the Cumberland Road bus gate

His lengthy report claims “25 reasons why this poorly designed bus gate is unenforceable, all penalty charges should be refunded and the bus gate dismantled without further delay”.

His report stated that he works at Aardman Animations – albeit at the animation firm’s base in the north of the city, in the Aztec West. “We sent an email around the company to ask if any colleagues had been caught by this bus gate,” he said. “Twenty colleagues responded. Several had received three or four PCNs, one had suffered six, another eight and one had 11.

“Their penalty notices didn’t start arriving until two weeks after the first offence, by which time they had gone through it several times,” he added.

Mr. Sanders said he sent his report to each newly elected councilor in early May at City Hall.

Bristol City Council has said the bus gate on Cumberland Road is completely legal. “National Government regulations only require councils to display two signs for a bus gate, but we have installed 14 signs in the area for this, alongside clear ‘bus gate’ road markings,” a spokesman said.

“To give additional warning, an electronic sign was installed for a month shortly after the bus gate was installed in September 2023. People who continued to drive through this bus gate in error received letters of warning as a reminder, before the first Penalty Notices were issued four months later in January 2024.”

“All vehicles can still travel eastbound on Cumberland Road to the bus gate, meaning the SS Great Britain and other attractions near Spike Island can still be accessed from both directions.

“Drivers should always follow road signs rather than sat navs/navigation devices. You should contact those route providers directly about their software. Although councils are not required to install red road surfacing at bus gates, we have taken this step at the Cumberland Road bus gate to increase its visibility,” he added.