The Bristol Cyclist - No. 48 - Summer 2003 | Previous | Contents | Next
So Bristol loses out on Capital of Culture. We put up a good bid, we were pitted against formidable opponents, it was a fair fight……. except that the panel has given as one of its reasons the “…negative impact of the M32 motorway…”. An “…extraordinary reason…” according to the Evening Post. “I do not believe this was the reason…” said a Bristol City Council spokesperson. The whole subject has now dropped below the horizon cloaked in an embarrassed silence.
What a pity! This ought to be the opportunity for Bristol to finally address the appalling legacy of 70s road building, which has left a running sore slicing through an attractive area of working class Victorian terraces, burying its second river and scarring historic landscapes.
What has this to do with ‘Culture’? Everything. Culture is arts, music and literature of course but it is also civil society, manners, customs, freedoms, opportunities and rights. How ironic that something called ‘civil engineering’ was allowed to have such uncivilized outcomes. How sad that Bristol does not seem to recognize the limits that are placed on culture by something so brutish, ill mannered and totalitarian as this poisonous snake-on-stilts.
Perhaps if the City of Culture bid had included some truly imaginative and creative proposals to knit the fabric of Bristol back together the judging panel would have found it harder to dismiss. And we don’t have to look too far to see dramatic examples of cities elsewhere dealing decisively with similar problems.
Seoul, in South Korea, is tearing down a huge urban highway built over the Han River into the heart of the city. The river banks will be restored to the public realm and a bus rapid transit route implemented alongside to take the sting out of the reduced traffic capacity.
As early as 1976 Seattle built Freeway Park, incorporating a huge ‘green bridge’ to try to mitigate the severance. Mile End Park in east London has just been graced by a similar ‘green bridge’ over the M11 incorporating trees, cycle routes and sculpture.
Paris is gradually reclaiming the north bank of the Seine by progressively closing an urban motorway, one of George Pompidou’s ‘Grand Projets’. In America Boston, Fort Worth, Hartford, New York, Oakland, Pittsburgh and Providence are tackling huge urban freeways by tearing them down. San Francisco has demolished the elevated Embarcadero Freeway and reclaimed its waterfront on San Francisco Bay.
Milwaukee was recommended to remove two sections of freeway to repair its deprived neighbourhoods. They took down half of one because of political doubts. Investment and consequent regeneration took place “…at such a pace it took your breath away…”. They are now taking the rest away.
How much money is being pumped into Neighbourhood Renewal around the M32? How much more effective could that be if the Frome was liberated from its concrete sarcophagus, its banks accessible and inviting?
These are the questions we should be asking. Bold solutions are available. Timid tinkering is pointless and does not demonstrate a commitment to repair a cultured, civilised city.
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The Bristol Cyclist - No. 48 - Summer 2003 | | Previous | Contents | Next