[Updated May 2026]
The Hotwells Corner Campaign’s vision is to make the Hotwell Road healthier, safer and greener. This is based on a new 24-hour bus lane, 20mph speed limit, improved side junctions and new crossing point, together with associated tree planting, improved parking arrangements and EV charge points.
Pub to pub, The ‘Hotwells Corner’ is the wide area of road from the lights by the Rose of Denmark pub past Dowry Square to the crossing in front of Holy Trinity Church near the Merchant’s Arms. Currently this entire stretch of road is three lanes wide, with an indistinct bus/cycle lane and no crossing point. What’s more, there’s a huge expanse of tarmac at the bottom of Hope Chapel Hill that is treated by many drivers as a motorway slip road to Hotwell Road.
The consequence is that this is a terrifying space for parents and children to navigate when walking kids to the Hotwell Primary School, as well as for cyclists, pedestrians and visitors.
The good news is that the current A4 Portway project will start to address some of these danger areas. For example, we expect there will eventually be a properly demarcated bicycle and bus lane. Separately, there is currently a City-wide consultation on reducing the speed limit to 20mph on many of Bristol’s roads, including Hotwell Road.
However, there is still so much more that could be done. Without losing any parking spaces, our proposals include further traffic calming and pedestrian and/or bike friendly amendments, in particular to the huge expanse of tarmac to the south of Dowry Square used as a rat run by drivers coming down Hope Chapel Hill. We are pressing for the junction of Hope Chapel Hill onto the Hotwell Road to be re-angled and signed as a proper ‘Give Way’.
The images in the carousel below include an overview design of our vision for Hotwells Corner, a photo of the first recent incident where a car mounted the pavement colliding with No. 16 Dowry Square (the former York Hotel), a photo of the second recent incident when a car smashed into the Merchant’s Arms, some recent guerrilla signage that the community has erected at the bottom of Hope Chapel Hill in an effort to stop cars treating this area as a slip road to Hotwell Road and finally a campaign graphic.
Quotes in support of the campaign
Resident, Councillor and Chair of Hotwells Primary School PTA Sibusiso Tshabalala said “This is not just the voice or option of a few. Our community needs assessments have definitively proved that pedestrian crossings and traffic calming measures are our neighbourhood’s top priorities. We’re united in demanding safer streets; and call for action to ensure that children, older residents, cyclists, and pedestrians can move safely and confidently through Hotwells. It’s brilliant to see the council responding — this shows the strength of feeling locally. But a 20mph limit is only the first step. For decades, this community has been living with a road that feels more like a motorway than a neighbourhood street. That has to change.”
Samir Savant, Chief Executive of St George’s Bristol added, “As a Hotwells resident, I’m all in favour of improving road safety and air quality. In fact I walk everywhere, including to my work at St George’s and negotiating the traffic on the Hotwell Road can be stressful.”
Local resident Jenny Frayn said “Hotwells Corner has been a problem since the 1970s — this isn’t new. What’s different now is that we have a real opportunity to fix it. We want to see a space designed for people: safer for children, healthier for residents and better for local businesses.”