No start date for major A38 upgrades costing £26.3m

Somerset Council has been working with North Somerset Council to secure funding for ten schemes to improve the A38 between Highbridge and Bristol Airport, in a bid to cut congestion at key pinch points, improve journey times to and from the airport and unlock new development sites.

The Department for Transport (DfT) confirmed in early-July (shortly after the government's spending review) that it would provide funding for these upgrades, just over four years after the proposals first saw the light of day in June 2021.

But no start date for any of the improvements has been set because the final business case still has to be submitted to and signed off by the government.

Of the ten schemes which were originally put forward to the DfT in the outline business case, four lie within Somerset Council's boundaries and six within the boundaries of North Somerset Council.

The four Somerset schemes are as follows:

• Upgrading the Edithmead roundabout: this roundabout, which links Highbridge to junction 22 of the M5, will be turned into a 'throughabout' and signalised from all approaches (along the lines of the Dunball roundabout upgrade currently being implemented at junction 23). The 'through lane' will run from the motorway onto the northbound A38 Bristol Road, cutting journey times towards the airport
• Rooks Bridge road safety improvements: new road markings and possibly traffic calming measures will be put in place to slow traffic speeds through the village and improve pedestrian safety
• Redesigning the Cross junction: this busy junction sees the A38 Bridgwater Road join Old Cross Road into the small village of Cross and Cross Lane towards Axbridge and Cheddar. The junction will be remodelled into a staggered junction to improve road safety, with some land being purchased from neighbouring landowners
• Improving the Strawberry Line crossing: the Strawberry Line active travel route currently crosses the A38 at Shute Shelve, on the edge of the Mendip Hills, via a staggered 'sheep-pen'-style crossing. This crossing will be improved to make it safer - with the Strawberry Line Society pushing for it to be replaced with a new footbridge, similar to one installed over the B3136 West Shepton in Shepton Mallet back in October 2024

Along with these improvements, bus stops and walking and cycling facilities will be improved at various locations along this route.

In North Somerset, the following improvements will be implemented:

• Widening the footway on the A38 Bristol Road between the A371 and Hillyfields in Sidcot
• Constructing a segregated cycle track in Langford between the B3133 Langford Road junction and the A368 Churchill Gate crossroads
• Delivering a shared use path between the Airport Terminal roundabout and Silver Zone roundabout, with the carriageway being widened to provide bus lanes and dedicated turning lanes
• Upgrading the shared use path between the Airport Terminal roundabout and West Lane in Lulsgate Bottom, with a signalised crossing over the A38
• Constructing a shared used path on the northern side of the A38 between Barrow Lane and Dial Lane in Barrow Gurney, with an existing uncontrolled crossing being widened
• Revising the layout of the Barrow Street junction near the Barrow Gurney Reservoirs, including the northbound bus stop layby

Nine of the ten projects will be funded by the DfT's grant of £26,311,422, with any additional financial contributions coming from housing developers or the councils' own borrowing.

The Barrow Street junction upgrade will be carried out separately as part of North Somerset Council's bus services improvement plan (BSIP), which is subject to separate DfT funding.

North Somerset Council has already appointed Octavius to undertake the design and build of its five projects, while Somerset Council has yet to appoint its own contractor.

When Somerset Council appointed Centregreat to deliver improvements to the Dunball roundabout in August 2024, the contract was laid out in such a fashion that it could be extended to include the Edithmead upgrade and other improvements, to save taxpayers time and money on future procurement.

But the council said that it was too early to say whether this extension would be applied, since the final business case had not yet been submitted.

A spokesperson said: "There is a lot of complex work to do in a short time-frame.

"It's anticipated that the final business case will be submitted before Christmas, but there are factors outside of our control that may affect this.

"The DfT are currently expected to consider business cases within 12 weeks of submission.

"We are looking at the procurement route that provides us with the best value for money, but we won't be able to announce which contractor is undertaking the work until after we have approval from the DfT. This is the point at which we will enter into a contract for the works."

Of the £26,311,422 provided by the DfT, two-third of this will be provided for the North Somerset schemes - leaving Somerset Council with around £8.77m for its four schemes, of which £6.4m is expected to be allocated to the Edithmead roundabout improvements.

The council said it would seek to keep disruption to a minimal as the various schemes were implemented, in light of the negative feedback generated by the numerous concurrent roadworks in Bridgwater.

A spokesperson said: "The delivery programme will be worked out in partnership with our chosen contractor, North Somerset Council and their contractor, and we will look to minimise disruption as much as possible.

"We will work out the exact funding split as we progress the business case.

"Any funding that is needed beyond this will be from local sources, which could be from developers via Section 106 agreements or from other grants."