It runs through the suburbs of St. Andrew's, Bishopston and Horfield and is a part of the A38, a former coaching route north of Bristol to Filton and the M5 Motorway.

The street is a focal point for local businesses, and is promoted by Bristol City Council as a centre of independent trade.

The Bristol North Baths on Gloucester Road were popular for most of the 20th century, and the location was used in filming for several television shows.

Cheltenham Road is spanned by a railway viaduct (known locally as "the Arches") carrying the Severn Beach Line south of this junction.

At the turn of the 20th, there were a high concentration of butchers and grocers, as was typical for the time, but these were gradually replaced by pubs, cafes and charity shops.

[14] Although Bristol City Council has invested £3m in redeveloping the North Baths, progress has continually stalled, as hidden structural problems have been uncovered.

It has survived due to the concentration of middle class housing on either side of the road, whose occupiers prefer local goods.

[18] A Bristol Post report suggested "you can buy anything you could ever need" on Gloucester Road, and that it captured the independent spirit of the local community well.

[19] In 2014, a graffiti stencil of Cary Grant, who grew up in the local area, was drawn above Room 212 on Gloucester Road.

[26] In 2014, Bristol City Council spent over £23,000 on new Christmas lights on order to promote the party and related events.

Studies produced by the West of England Combined Authority have deduced that journeys by bus along Gloucester Road are slow and unreliable as a result of slow-moving traffic along the route, which limits the potential to achieve modal shift from the car as public transport is not an attractive option for many journeys.

Highway constraints on the road limit the ability to increase public transport capacity with additional bus services.