The incident, which took place at 3am, saw police and council contractors descend on Barton Hill to install a bus gate as part of the East Bristol Liveable Neighbourhood trial scheme.
A small group of women even resorted to lying down on Marsh Lane to prevent the installation of another bus gate outside Barton House.
The traffic project aims to reduce rat running and promote active travel in St George, Redfield and Barton Hill.
However, critics argue that it has led to gridlock, unsafe roads and increased pollution. One disgruntled resident branded the move to install the bus gate before sunrise as “sneaky”, predicting it would cause chaos.
Several protesters, who are currently observing Ramadan, were unable to have their Suhoor pre-dawn meal due to the disruption. Another claimed that no legal notice had been given about the road closures for the bus gate installations.
Fadumo Farah, who lives in Barton House, said she was alerted to the situation via a WhatsApp group and left her home before 4am.
Farah expressed her dismay at the heavy police presence during a peaceful protest: “The police officers told me they were here to keep the peace but it looks like they were assisting.
“We were only four women and one man. We were peacefully protesting and there were around 50 police officers…” Farah also mentioned the threat of arrest: “They said we would get arrested and we were breaking the law for protesting on the road.”
As the situation escalated with both sides recording each other, Farah noted the division of labour among the contractors working on Marsh Lane and Avonvale Road, while protesters correspondingly split their focus. The installation of infrastructure on Victoria Avenue before sunrise was another point of contention.
Reflecting on the impact of the event, Farah said: “My position is supporting the community. As soon as I saw so many police officers, that was really disappointing because there were only a few of us…”
She detailed the emotional toll on the protesters: “I have seen so many women broken and crying. We missed our special meal with our family this morning and now we are fasting…
“I asked them to bring us water or something but they refused to do that.”
Meanwhile, protester Melissa Topping revealed the group had been ‘tipped off’ that the contractors were coming at 3am.
“We set alarms and planned to go out if we got a call, the phone started going crazy at around 4am so I scooted out, knowing they were doing them all but once I headed to the one that was going to block my access.
“There were security and police arrived. There were too many for us to stop them, one of our other campaign members arrived and we were pleading with them not to continue but they carried on regardless. With 3 disabled women in tears. We then went to help the people on Marsh lane.”
She added: “We now live in an undemocratic society. Where the majority doesn’t matter and disabled matter even less. All are completely ignored and bypassed.
“With the two Facebook groups it can clearly be seen we have over 3k against this scheme. The pro group has 610. Petition we have 5788 signatures. They got 74 then closed it. Even the consultation showed 790 against and 427 for the scheme? It shouldn’t have gone beyond that? It’s all beyond belief that they can do this to residents, businesses and workers and nobody is accountable.”
In response to the furore, Councillor Ed Plowden, Chair of the Transport and Connectivity Committee at Bristol City Council, said: “Contractors attended six sites in East Bristol this morning to install the infrastructure required for the Liveable Neighbourhood trial.
“Officers from Avon and Somerset Police were on site to support the installation of the measures and facilitate any peaceful protest encountered. Five of the six modal filter sites have now been completed.
“The bus gates on Avonvale Road and Pilemarsh that have been installed are not currently live. We will give notice of when they are going to be in use and the large electronic signs will indicate whether they are operational. When the bus gates do go live there will be a period of ‘soft’ enforcement, when drivers will receive a letter in the post the first time they are detected contravening one of the bus gates, rather than receiving a fine.
“We recently announced a range of travel offers and bus gate exemptions to give extra support to households within the trial area. Further updates on the progress of beginning the trial will be shared with residents in due course.”