60 weeks needed to build crucial Taunton road junction

The Staplegrove urban extension will eventually comprise 1,628 homes, commercial space and a new primary school on land between the A358 Staplegrove Road and Taunton Road at the north-western edge of Somerset's county town.

To unlock the  western half of the new development (comprising 713 homes and the employment site), the council's planning committee west voted in late-June to approve plans to widen Staplegrove Road to create the access for the new homes and replace the Silk Mills roundabout with traffic lights.

But highway officers have now revealed that such a scheme could take more than a year to complete - and work could begin before Christmas.

Jon Fellingham, the council's service manager for highways development management, made the admission during a meeting of the planning committee west in Taunton on Tuesday afternoon (July 22).

He said: "We've been in constant dialogue with the contractor for the development, and with the developer as well. We recognise that there is obviously the potential for severe traffic disruption in this location.

"We have directed that two-way traffic flow must be maintained as much as possible throughout the work - and that is something which, in fairness, the contractor has worked really hard to do.

"The programme is for about 60 weeks all in. It could be completed in a much shorter window, but this would cause more disruption to traffic flows.

"If we elongate the work out over a long period of time, we can retain those flows as much as we can with all the other roadworks we've got going on across the network."

The design of the new junction was secured as part of the outline planning permission for the site, which was granted by Taunton Deane Borough Council back in October 2017.

Bloor Homes South West (which is delivering the Staplegrove West development) has already started clearing the site of the new junction and removing vegetation, having secured dormice licences from Natural England.

On the northern side of the road, a significant section will be cut away to deliver the first section of the spine road running through the site, with considerable earthworks being needed to take account of the land's steep gradient.

The existing Silk Mills roundabout (which links the A358 between Taunton and Williton to the A3065 Silk Mills Road, towards the park and ride site) will be replaced by a signalised three-way junction

The westbound A358 will be widened to provide additional lanes, along with shared use pedestrian and cycle paths - with the existing verge and footpath will be "consumed" and some of the existing bank and trees near the Grove Gate and Nash Green estates needing to be removed.

To protect both the new highway and the existing properties, a large retaining wall will be built on the southern edge of Staplegrove Road, between the sloped footpaths leading up to Mill Rise and Nash Green respectively.

The sloped Nash Green footpath will remain in place and be enhanced, with a new set of steep steps and twisting ramp leading up to Mill Rise.

Mr Fellingham added: "These works will not start until all the other works have been completed - namely the Wales and West utility works around Taunton and the ongoing upgrade to junction 26 of the M5.

"We'll get those out of the way so we can focus on getting this done.

"We also want to keep night work to an absolute minimum - and any night works will be communicated to us before they go ahead."

Councillor Caroline Ellis (whose Bishop's Hull and Taunton West division includes the Silk Mills park and ride facility) welcomed Mr Fellingham's comments, saying the council had "gone over and above to address this issue".

She added: "I'm very happy about this - especially that all the roadworks will be after the current nightmare is over.

"If it means that the road network keeps moving, then I understand taking 60 weeks."

Councillor Derek Perry (whose Rowbarton and Staplegrove division includes the development site) said: "Time and time again in Taunton, major works take place which result in long-term disruption - and when it pans out, the message often seems to be: 'oh, we'll learn lessons and do better next time'.

"What I'd like to ensure is that we don't end up in that situation, and that there is an opportunity to scrutinise the plans beforehand, if possible.

"I totally agree that preserving two-way traffic along Staplegrove Road during the course of the works as much as possible is desirable. But part of this is to remove the roundabout at the top of Silk Mills and replace it with lights.

"Presumably when that happens, there's going to be a lot going on, a lot fo temporary surfaces and presumably some temporary lights as part of that process.

"When we get to the really sharp end of this, when I fear there will be disruption, we need to look at the wider context.

"I'd like thought to be given for using Great Western Way and Collett Road to bypass this junction."

The council is expected to confirm the precise dates when construction work will begin via its official roadworks portal in the coming weeks.