Frustrated residents hit out over ‘waste of money’ roadworks

Judging by Facebook comments, there could be some awkward moments at the drop-in council meeting

South Gloucestershire Council has invited the ire of people living in Bradley Stoke, as it invites them to a drop-in feedback session on disruptive ‘sustainable travel improvements’ in the area.

Bradley Stoke Way and several nearby roads have been the subject of a series of debilitating roadworks in 2025, as the council installs new bike lanes in a bid to encourage more people to cycle.

The chaos caused by the works has even led to the council being taken to court by one disgruntled local. Now, SGC has invited people to attend a ‘drop-in’ session at Willowbrook Shopping Centre on November 17.

“Come and chat to us about the sustainable travel improvements we’re delivering for Bradley Stoke,” the council wrote in a post on its StreetCare Facebook page.

“Meet the project team, share your feedback and find out more about the planned works happening throughout 2026.”

If the comments on the Facebook post are anything to go by, next Wednesday could be a long day for the project team in question.

“I think it’s best you don’t let anyone meet the team behind all of this ongoing disruption,” Lucas wrote.

David, another frustrated local, went a step further.

“Personally I think you should put all the councillors who wasted money on this in a set of stocks and let the local residents show their frustration with these morons,” he wrote.

Several commenters suggested the council would have been better off spending money to repair pot holes on the existing road network. However, the funding for the new ‘active travel’ network comes from the Department for Transport through the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlements Fund (CRSTS) and is administered by the West of England Combined Mayoral Authority.

Money from that fund is allocated specifically to new transport schemes and cannot be used for filling potholes, nor to pay for other council services.

“I’m a cyclist and these are a waste of money,” Tony wrote. “Would have been better spent just fixing the existing cycle paths and the potholes in the roads that are part of the national cycle routes.”

The idea the new lanes were a waste of money was a common theme.

“You know what’s funny though, we’ve had all these bike lanes put in, yet I’ve seen several cyclists not using them and still going onto the public footpath,” Belinda said. “It just seems like such a waste of money.”

Tracy, who described herself as a ‘prolific cyclist’, said she had never had an issue using the roads in the area before the new lanes were installed.

“I’ve never had a problem cycling around Bradley Stoke on the roads, it’s the suburbs, not the city centre or leading to the city centre which is where cycle lanes are really needed,” she said. “I’ve yet to see the Tour de France cycling through the area either and if you dared do a week or month survey on usage, I’m willing to bet my cycle shorts that the amount of cyclists using these cycle paths would be in the dozens not hundreds.”

The feedback session will run from 3pm until 7pm on Wednesday.