Anger as roundabout upgrade is scrapped

Work on a ‘throughabout’ was expected to begin in the summer

A project to remodel a roundabout in the centre of a busy town has been scrapped, with a councillor attacking the decision as "wrong".

The Cross Rifles roundabout in Bridgwater, Somerset, had been in-line to receive part of a £10m grant from the government's levelling up fund.

Instead, the plans have been shelved, with Somerset Council saying "it would not be responsible in the current climate to continue to pursue this scheme, nor does it make environmental or logistical sense in 2024".

Somerset councillor Leigh Redman, who represents the town, said "this is going to be a congestion point for Bridgwater for many years" and the town would "lose out" as a result.

'New approach'

The council had been granted the money to deliver improvements to the Bridgwater northern corridor, which runs from the Dunball roundabout to the Cross Rifles roundabout via the A38 Bristol Road.

Work on the Dunball scheme has been repeatedly delayed due to high inflation within the construction industry, with the delivery of the new ‘throughabout’ design finally expected to begin in the summer.

But the council announced in January it would be "taking a new approach", focussed on pedestrian crossings and other walking and cycling improvements, rather than physically increasing the amount of space available to motorists.

To complete the work, the council would have needed to buy land in the area through a compulsory purchase order (CPO), which included part of a supermarket car park and an undertakers.

Cross Rifles roundabout will no longer be upgraded

Mr Redman said the council had costed a CPO and made plans to remodel the road, until the proposal was pulled in favour of shifting the money.

He added: "Everyone knows it's an issue both safety-wise as well as capacity-wise.

"One of the main reasons councillors were supportive was this roundabout would get some increased capacity to get the flow through.

"It needs to be done."

A statement from Somerset Council's transport lead Richard Wilkins said: "The scheme requires CPOs which are notoriously costly, drawn-out and unpredictable in terms of success.

"Further, having recently declared a financial emergency, we are not in a position to countenance unpredictable CPO costs along with the ongoing spiralling inflation costs which are hitting the construction industry."