AN £8million pound year-long improvement scheme to upgrade the busy Toneway Creech Castle junction in Taunton will start next month.

Somerset County Council hopes the improvements will help to reduce congestion and improve access to Taunton by increasing the capacity of the junction.

But to carry out the work, a major road will be closed for around one year.

The upgrade includes upgraded facilities for pedestrians and cyclists, and says it is 'critical' to allow planned development at Monkton Heathfield to go ahead.

The scheme will be delivered by Alun Griffiths Ltd.

Works are expected to take 12 months and will begin on Tuesday April 14, after the Easter weekend, with the project running alongside the M5 Junction 25 scheme which is already under construction.

The Creech Castle scheme includes road widening and requires significant construction activities with heavy machinery and excavations in the carriageway.

Bridgwater Road north will be closed to vehicles for the duration of the scheme. Access for pedestrians and cyclists will be unaffected.

The council says other alternatives were considered – including use of temporary multi-way traffic lights instead of a road closure – but these were projected to cause much more severe disruption with long queues on the Toneway potentially impacting on the M5.

Councillor John Woodman, SCC's cabinet member for highways, said: “The Creech Castle junction is a major pinchpoint and these improvements will be very welcome indeed, particularly as the area continues to grow.

“Delivery of this scheme will be challenging, particularly with works at Junction 25 already underway, but it is better to run the two schemes concurrently to minimise the overall period of disruption.

“I’m sure people will have questions, so please visit travelsomerset.co.uk/Toneway for more information or come to one of our public drop-in events to see the plans and talk to one of our team.”

Simon Dunn, operations director for Alun Griffiths, said: “We are proud to be continuing our partnership with Somerset County Council following the award of the Toneway Creech Castle junction improvement scheme.

“We look forward to building on our experiences of our Junction 25 project to ensure minimal disruption during the delivery of this complex project.

“We look forward to meeting local residents and road users at our upcoming drop-in sessions to explain more about our plans.”

The first public drop-in event will take place at Brittons Ash Community Hall in West Monkton on Wednesday March 18 from 3pm to 8pm.

The Toneway Creech Castle scheme upgrade is expected to cost around £8.3m with allocated funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) Growth Deal Fund, Somerset County Council and developer contributions.