The Oldfield Park and the Combe Down routes both leave the City
Centre Circle at Dorchester Street . Both routes cross the river and
diverge at the old Wells
Road junction, where special
arrangements can be made for by-passing
traffic queues.
The Oldfield Park route runs westwards along the middle of the Lower
Bristol Road, where it turns south into Lower Oldfield Park. At this
point it has to run under the G.W. Railway and the headroom is
limited to 4 metres. (Picture)
This may necessitate the provision of special single-deck trams for
this route if double-deckers are chosen as the standard type for all
other routes. Alternatively, special low-height double deck trams
could be supplied. The choice of this route, rather than the Lower
Bristol Road/ Brougham Hayes route, gives access to more properties,
especially in the Junction Road area and avoids a congested section
of the Lower Bristol Road.
From the top of Brougham Hayes to Moorland Road,
the line would be double track to prevent the possibility of a
head-on collision in the multiple bends of Livingstone Road. At
various other places along this mainly single-track route,
double-track passing places would be provided and these would need to
be controlled by a simple relay-operated signalling system. The route
from Moorland Road continues up Herbert Road and Cynthia Road to
Bridge Road.
Coronation Avenue is a problem at present because of the amount of
road width taken up by parked vehicles. Most of the houses have
vehicular back-access and little hardship would be created by parking
restrictions.
Turning eastwards along Englishcombe Lane, the
route then turns into Southdown Road, which avoids the 'tail-back' of
vehicles from the Whiteway Road junction during rush-hours. The ample
grass verges in Southdown Avenue would carry a single-line tramway
through the housing estate, serving many properties.
Continuing along Mount Road, the track may terminate on a vacant area
by 'The Beehive'. Alternatively it may be possible to continue it
into the Whiteway Estate, but this might involve some demolition of
properties, which is best avoided.