DIVERSIONS will be put in place as work on the next phase of a major project to unlock £270million of investment in Taunton starts next week.

The £22million Northern Inner Distributor Road scheme, led by Somerset County Council, will provide a link from Priory Avenue to Staplegrove Road, aiming to ease congestion in the town centre and on Priorswood Road.

And it is hoped it will attract companies to set up offices, shops and leisure facilities, as well as homes, in Firepool.

The 40 Steps footbridge over the railway at Chip Lane has been removed and the construction of bases for the new cyclebridge has begun.

Work has also started on building the foundations of the new Firepool Bridge which will span the River Tone and Bridgwater to Taunton Canal – nine metre foundation piles have been bored down into the ground to support the new structure and a temporary bridge has been installed across the river to allow heavy machinery to access the area.

From next Wednesday (January 8), the council will be working to connect a new drainage system along Staplegrove Road – to do so safely, traffic will be prevented from travelling north beyond Richmond Road for up to two weeks.

Motorists needing to access Chip Lane from the south will be diverted via the Third Way, A38 and A3065 Silk Mills.

Cllr Harvey Siggs, Somerset County Council cabinet member for highways, said: “The NIDR is a really important investment in our county town, creating jobs and providing homes for local people.

“I’m pleased the work is progressing well and although this latest phase in Staplegrove Road will cause some disruption, we will do our best to keep this to a minimum.”

The NIDR will provide access to the Firepool regeneration site where there are ambitious plans for a riverside business, residential and shopping development which will create thousands of jobs and hundreds of homes in the area.