Taunton drivers face disruption throughout the school summer holidays as part of an £11.6m road maintenance scheme.

Somerset County Council is in the middle of a programme to upgrade traffic lights and pedestrian crossings across the county.

Work on lights and crossings in the Rowbarton area was completed in the autumn and the council has now announced work will be undertaken at two further Taunton sites from July 23 – which will last throughout the summer holidays.

Work will be carried out to replace the equipment at the junction of the B3170 South Road and Calway Road, near Richard Huish College and the pedestrian crossing on Chestnut Drive, near the junction with Upper Holway Road.

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Councillor Mike Rigby said: "We understand this kind of work does impact on the network in Taunton – it involves significant excavation to take out the old cables and equipment – but the existing signal equipment has reached the end of its working life and must be replaced now, otherwise it is likely to fail, causing disruption and extra cost to the public.

"Carrying out the work during the holidays allows the team to take advantage of the lighter traffic and minimises disruption.

"We’ll be working closely with local businesses and the community to ensure they have all the information they need, and the impact of these works is kept to a minimum."

Mr Rigby said the council had taken the decision to delay construction of a new junction on the B3087 Trenchard Way to prevent additional disruption.

The junction, which was approved by Somerset West and Taunton Council’s planning committee in February, will connect Trenchard Way to the Firepool regeneration site and eventually link up with Canal Road.

Mr Rigby added: "We’ve also taken the decision to defer the construction of the new junction on Trenchard Way until after the summer holidays in order to avoid accumulative impacts of multiple simultaneous works.

"The new signals will be more efficient, more eco-friendly, should improve traffic flow and provide much safer access for both cyclists and pedestrians."

Work on both elements of the programme will last for the entire summer holidays, with temporary traffic lights being in force throughout.

Access for residents and businesses will be maintained throughout at both locations.

For more information on the signals replacement programme, visit www.travelsomerset.co.uk.