Work has begun on a £135m road scheme designed to ease congestion, boost access to and from the South West and provide an economic boost for the region.
The upgrade of the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester, will tackle a long-standing bottleneck, improving local journeys and making roads safer.
The project - managed by National Highways and funded entirely by the Department for Transport as part of the Road Investment Strategy - will create a high quality, dual carriageway on the congested stretch of the A303 and is set to open to the public by Spring 2024
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On an average day, the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester carries 23,500 vehicles, but numbers increase significantly in the summer, particularly at weekends, making journeys unreliable and unpredictable.
The upgrade aims to:
improve the capacity of the road to reduce delays and queues that occur during peak hours and at key times of the year, particularly. the height of summer
support economic growth, facilitating growth in jobs and housing by providing a free-flowing and reliable connection between the South East and the South West
make the road safer, by providing additional capacity and reducing driver stress, making routes safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and horse riders
protect the environment and look for opportunities to improve it, minimising any unnecessary impact of the scheme on the surrounding natural and historic environment and landscape
work with communities to reduce the impact of the road and look for ways to improve peoples’ quality of life
make journey times more reliable and resilient; by providing more capacity it will become easier to manage traffic when incidents occur.
Current work is all about preparing the ground for construction, with traffic management not planned until early 2022 and minimal disruption to 2021 holiday traffic, especially around Christmas.
Main construction work will get under way in 2022, with closures kept to a minimum throughout the scheme. A text alert system will be launched next year.
Further along the A303/A358 corridor, a consultation will be launched on the A358 on October 12, with National Highways welcoming views on new designs.
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Roads Minister Baroness Vere said: “We’ve provided £135m to make this scheme a reality, and this is a fantastic moment for the South West as works get underway.
“Not only will it enhance capacity, cut journey times and improve road safety, but as we continue to build back better from the pandemic this project will provide a real boost to the local economy in Somerset and the surrounding region – creating jobs, improving access to housing and opening the region up to the rest of the country.”
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Hannah Sanderson, programme manager for National Highways, said: “We are really pleased that we are now starting this long-awaited project in earnest. The scheme is incredibly important for Somerset’s future, vital to the A303 / A358 corridor and it’s exciting that work is finally under way.
“The three new miles of dual carriageway will support economic growth and facilitate a growth in jobs and housing by creating a free-flowing and reliable connection between the South East and South West.
It will also tackle a long-standing bottleneck, reduce journey times to the South West and improve traffic flows in that area at peak times and during peak seasons.”
Cllr David Hall, Somerset County Council’s cabinet member for economic development, said: “It’s really satisfying to see work commence on this vital scheme, which is so important for Somerset’s economy and future growth.
"We’ve worked really hard to promote the need for this investment and we’re delighted to be supporting National Highways as they deliver these much-needed improvements.”