Bristol Pedestrianisation Schemes See Half-Million Pound Budget Hike

The expenses for two pedestrianisation initiatives have collectively increased by £500,000, a rise attributed to an underestimation by Bristol City Council, it has been revealed. Quotations received for the work on Overton Road, situated near Gloucester Road, and Princess Victoria Street in Clifton, have significantly surpassed the initial budget projections. City Hall officials have sanctioned this increase, with the expectation that the West of England Combined Authority (Weca) will provide the necessary funding. This incident represents the latest in a series of major projects managed by the local authority that have substantially exceeded their allocated budgets, most notably the Bristol Beacon, which saw its cost surge from an initial £48m to £132m. In July, a decision was made by officers to raise the £754,000 budget for the two new pedestrian zones by £124,000, based on early construction estimates. However, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, that figure has now escalated to an additional £500,000 following the tendering process for the projects. Discussions are currently underway between the council and Weca regarding the provision of this supplementary funding to cover the deficit. Bristol City Council had successfully secured the initial funds for these schemes subsequent to a cabinet decision in January 2023. The city council has formally requested the additional £500,000 from Weca, specifying that the funds should be drawn from the City Region Sustainable Transport Settlement (CRSTS) financial allocation. The choice to augment the budget, rather than reducing the scope of the projects or abandoning either of them entirely, was made by a senior officer earlier this month. A statement posted on the council’s website indicated that the amount had increased since July “because tenders have returned and are considerably more than we had estimated”. It further stated: “This means we need to overwrite the previous decision and add a value of £499,524 to the initial decision via an officer executive decision.”