Businesses in Somerset are being invited to find out more about major road upgrades in the county which the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) has described as “key” to supporting the South West economy.
Highways England is set to hold a virtual exhibition next week on plans to dual three miles of the A303, with construction set to begin in September.
Local firms, residents and motorists will be able to put questions to the project team about the scheme which will run between Sparkford and Ilchester.
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The upgrade, estimated to cost between £130m to £160m, is aiming to improve the capacity of the road to reduce delays and queues.
Highways England said that on an average day the road carries 23,500 vehicles, but numbers increase significantly in the summer.
The state-owned maintenance firm added that the project would help support economic growth, as well as create jobs and housing through “a free-flowing and reliable” connection between the South East and the South West.
The upgrade is scheduled to be open to traffic in 2024, with site clearance and earthworks set to begin in September.
Highways England said closures would be “kept to a minimum” throughout the scheme with main construction work and traffic management to get under way next year.
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The FSB South West’s regional chairman Lee Nathan, said: “Upgrading the single carriageway sections of this important route is key to supporting the South West economy, particularly as the only alternative route via the M4 and M5 into the South West is already heavily congested.
“FSB believes that more investment should be directed to improving key links on the A road network across the 海角视频 as a way of supporting our local regional economies.
“As a result, we are wholeheartedly in support of this new scheme.”
The virtual exhibition will be accessible from Highways England’s website. It will run from midday to 8pm on Thursday 22 July and Friday 23 July, where people will be able to post questions on a live chat.
Hannah Sanderson, programme manager for Highways England, said the scheme was part of the biggest investment in Somerset’s road network “for a generation”.
It comes as Highways England continues a procurement process for the main works contract for the Stonehenge tunnel project further along the A303, which will see the creation of a tunnel and dual carriageway between Amesbury and Berwick, in a bid to reduce traffic around the attraction.
A preferred bidder for this is expected to be announced in early 2022 with preliminary work due to start later this year.
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