Not specifically relevant to the reopening, but I noticed last week that the bridge over South Liberty Lane in Ashton Vale that used to take the west-facing chord of the junction with the main line has been demolished. Investigating further I found that the whole formation was sold off a while back and two years ago planning permission was given to develop the linear site as housing, with the access being roughly where the bridge was.
i guess running through trains from Portishead to Weston or Clevedon(!) was never really on the cards, but it could have formed a link from a line through the city centre/harbour area via Ashton swing bridge to the new (imagined) Airport branch.
Also tenuously related - there have been a few DB route learning runs this week (66188 on Monday). Not sure what these might be for, the current (rare) container workings are operated by Freightliner, and I think Colas does the inspection and maintenance stuff. Possibly another freight working incoming, or related to forthcoming construction works, even if not approved?