Hambrook traffic lights
Update April 2026
On Monday 27 April 2026 traffic restrictions were removed at Hambrook junction on the A4174 Ring Road between Bromley Heath and M32 roundabouts.
Sustained improvements in local air quality and formal confirmation from the government mean that national standards are now being met.
What is changing
The restrictions that have been in place since 2019 have now been lifted, allowing vehicles to make movements that include:
- right turns from the westbound A4174 ring road onto the B4058 Bristol Road
- right turns from the B4058 Bristol Road from Frenchay onto the A4174
- going straight ahead when leaving Frenchay towards Winterbourne on the B4058 Bristol Road, including the cycle crossing
- bringing the westbound bus lane back into operation (revised lane destinations will be in place as a result)
Traffic heading north or west will no longer need to go around the M32 junction to reach areas north of the ring road.
Air quality will continue to be monitored to ensure standards remain within legal limits.
Background information
A national assessment of local authority roads by Defra (Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs) in 2017 identified the A4174 ring road, between the M32 Junction 1 and the Bromley Heath roundabouts, as being above the roadside nitrogen dioxide annual mean limit of 40 µg/m3 (microgrammes per cubic metre).
We were required by the government in 2018 to assess and introduce actions that could help reduce nitrogen dioxide levels to meet the legal limits and continually monitor the air quality.
The following changes were implemented to the junction in 2019:
- changing the westbound bus lane to an all-traffic lane through the junction to the M32 traffic signals
- removal of the right turn onto the B4058 from the westbound carriageway of the A4174 ring road
- removal of the straight on movement for the B4058 northbound from Frenchay
- removal of the right turn from the B4058 from Frenchay onto the A4174