More Portway Closures Because Of Flood Risk
The Portway will be closed off again for part of the Wednesday morning rush hour because of safety concerns over flooding.
Bristol City Council closed off the outbound carriageway for around an hour on Monday evening. Long delays were caused on Tuesday morning when much of the outbound Portway was again closed off to traffic.
The council tell us they're limiting the duration of the closures to as short a period as possible to reduce the amount of disruption caused to drivers. But they are asking motorists to avoid the route if possible.
The Portway will be closed from 08:15 to 09:30 Wednesday morning.
Outbound traffic will be diverted via Hotwells Road, Jacobs Wells Road, Whiteladies Road, Westbury Road, Parrys Lane, Shirehampton Road, Sylvan Way. The Highways team at the council say inbound lanes may be closed if it's considered there's a risk.
We spoke to Bristol City Council Operations Manager Duncan Venison. He said it's not just motorists who need to change their routes: "On the other side of the Portway we've got the Bristol to Pill cycle path and that does actually flood, and that will be impassible at high tide. So if you do actually take that way to work in the morning just please be aware that you could come across some water and if you can find an alternative route, perhaps go over the Avonmouth Bridge and back along the Portway instead, that would probably be some good advice."
We also asked him if he thinks we're likely to see flooding like this become more frequent in the future: "It's difficult to tell really, I've been here 8 years doing this particular role and I've never known the Portway flood the way it did (yesterday) in the last 8 years. We have had the river come over, or come back up through the gullies at that location on a few occasions."
It's hoped things will be back to normal by Thursday morning.
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