A MASS protest about lack of cycling safety between Taunton and Wellington is set to take place later today (Sunday, March 20).

More than 200 community leaders and members from the Citizens Somerset alliance will don their bike helmets and join The Great Big Safety Ride.

The initiative will be calling on candidates in the upcoming elections for the new Somerset unitary council to prioritise funding for safe cycling routes across the county, and to bring forward the construction of the Wellington to Taunton cycle route to 2025.

A spokesperson for today's event said: "The A38 between the two towns does not have a cycle path and is too dangerous for many cyclists to use, which is why the protest will take over the road with a mass peloton for a brief period on Sunday afternoon to make the point."

The riders will leave Wellington at 1pm to cycle along the A38 to Sheppy’s Cider Farm at Bradford-on-Tone.

Once the Wellington peloton has reached Sheppy’s at around 1.45pm the Taunton cyclists will ride along the A38 to the same destination.

The protest has been registered with the police and motorists are encouraged to avoid the A38 between 1pm and 2.30pm and to not attempt to overtake the peloton.

At 2.30pm the cycling protesters will gather in the yard at Sheppy’s Cider Farm to hear testimony from a range of people who back the campaign, including some people who have been knocked off their bikes on the A38, commuters who would like a safe route between the towns and young people concerned for the environment.

Representatives of the four main political parties contesting the elections have been invited to attend - some have agreed to join the ride - and will be asked to respond and sign Citizens Somerset’s Safe Cycling Pledge, which it will be asking candidates in the upcoming Somerset Council elections to sign.

The pledge is asking candidate to:

  • promote cycling as a means of sustainable transport across the county;
  • support substantial investment in Somerset’s cycling infrastructure so that our county becomes a leader in sustainable transport as well as tackling climate change;
  • prioritise the Wellington to Taunton cycle route along the A38 as a first step, aiming to start construction by 2025.