page_title: Portway, Bristol
section_title: Maintenance
hierarchical_section_title: Portway, Bristol / Maintenance
caption_attribution_description: English: Clifton Suspension Bridge &amp; the A4 Portway
context_page_description: The Portway is a major road in the City of Bristol. It is part of the A4 and connects Bristol City Centre to the Avonmouth Docks and the M5 motorway via the Avon Gorge.
  The road was constructed following World War I in order to provide improved access to the ports at Avonmouth Docks, which had replaced Bristol Harbour as the major local centre for commercial shipping. Upon opening on 2 July 1926, it was the single most expensive road project in Britain, costing £800,000. The construction posed a number of significant engineering challenges, including long and deep rock cuttings, a viaduct over the River Trym, and retaining walls against the gorge adjacent to the River Avon. Falling rocks have since been a problem along the Portway, particularly at the southern end close to the Clifton Suspension Bridge, with concrete canopies constructed to prevent loose rock and assist with remedial work.
  The Portway remains an important route to and from Bristol, and is now used as part of the Portway Park and Ride scheme.
context_section_description: Traffic levels increased substantially on the Portway when the M5 motorway was extended past Cribbs Causeway to meet it in 1971, as it provided a convenient way of avoiding the congested road network around north-west Bristol. Although this was only intended to be a stopgap measure until the Avonmouth Bridge was completed, construction of the bridge was repeatedly delayed. Transport Minister Keith Speed proposed a temporary solution of signing all Midlands – South West traffic via the Portway, followed by either the A369 from Bristol to Portishead northbound, or local roads southbound. The scheme required minor upgrading to junctions along the Portway. The Avonmouth Bridge opened in May 1974, making the scheme redundant.
  Rockfalls from the limestone cliffs of the Avon Gorge have caused a hazard to motorists on occasion and every year the road is closed to allow for inspection of the cliffs for potentially dangerous cracks and loose rocks, and to allow remedial works. In 1980, a glass fibre reinforced concrete canopy was constructed over the Portway close to where it passes below the Clifton Suspension Bridge, in order to protect traffic from such rock falls.
  In 2001, a 27-inch (690 mm) water main burst near the junction with Bridge Valley Road, causing a major collapse and  putting the road out of action for several months. One passer-by was swept into the river but was rescued uninjured.
caption: At the southern end of the Portway by the Clifton Suspension Bridge, a concrete canopy protects against falling rocks.
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