THE Somerset Chamber of Commerce has said the A358 upgrades will widen Somerset's labour market.

Emma Rawlings, executive director at Somerset Chamber of Commerce said: "This investment will widen our labour market and open greater opportunities to our business and our local communities."

She went on to explain the plans will be of benefit to our business as well as traffic issues.

"In Somerset, we have a complete diverse range of businesses, manufacturers, hauliers, independent traders.

"Some of the issues our businesses are facing using the A358 and A303 corridor is the poor infrastructure.

"It's the capacity that these roads cannot maintain."

She explained that: ""Somerset is an agricultural county, which also adds to the volume of the already heavy traffic on those single carriageways.

"From large international organisations, to small independent traders.

"It will allow them to become part of a larger supply chain across the country and be able to compete for bigger contracts.

"It will allow us to be on a level playing field and it is going to allow greater flow, greater movement and great growth in Somerset."

Katherine Liddington, senior project manager for the A358 scheme, said: “We plan to upgrade approximately 8.5 miles of the A358 to a new high-quality and high-performing dual carriageway, which will reduce congestion, enhance safety and improve connectivity for road users and local communities, while unlocking economic growth in Somerset and beyond.

On the National Highways website, it states that: "Currently most of the A358 is a single lane and has many local roads and private accesses joining directly with it. It’s often congested and is a source of frustration for local people, and those using the road to travel longer distances.

"Many road users try to avoid the traffic congestion by diverting onto smaller local roads, which then increases the level of traffic in surrounding villages."

"To address this, we’re proposing to upgrade an 8.5 mile section of the A358 between Southfields Roundabout on the A303 and the M5 at Taunton, to a high quality dual carriageway."

The A358 Taunton to Southfields Dualling scheme is classified as a ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project’ defined under the Planning Act 2008.