A361 Somerset road to close and have its speed limit reduced

Somerset Council has been working on proposals to reduce the chance of serious and fatal road collisions on the A361 and its junction with the A362 at the Frome Bypass.

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This phase includes: junction resurfacing works to improve the quality of the road surface, the introduction of a 50mph speed limit on the A361 and 40mph on the A362 approach, and central hatching along the bypass.

The work is scheduled to get underway during the week beginning Monday, May 11, over three nights.

It follows a joint initiative with Avon and Somerset Police and Somerset Council, which started last autumn and saw AI cameras positioned on the bypass, which are capable of detecting unsafe driving.

Used by about 15,000 vehicles a day, the A361 Bypass road alone has seen six fatalities in the last five years – four of these between 2023 and 2024.

The work also followed a petition, started by local resident Jack Twelves, that was signed more than 1,800 times, calling for traffic lights to be installed at the Frome Bypass.

In it, Jack said: "The junction of Warminster Road and the A361 Frome Bypass in Somerset is a notorious hotspot for traffic congestion and accidents.

"As a local resident, I have witnessed numerous safety issues at this intersection, and I am deeply concerned about the risks it poses to both drivers and pedestrians. The time has come to take decisive action to improve safety and traffic flow at this crucial junction."

A361 Somerset road to close and have its speed limit reduced

Somerset Council said that the latest package of works will need a full road closure between 7pm and 6am.

The road markings will be more visible and make a slight noise warning when driven over.

Extending the protected right turn area for drivers waiting to turn right into the junction will be considered in future, as small-scale changes could not be made safely with the current available road width.

Cutting back vegetation to further improve the visibility at the A361/A362 junction has had to be delayed "because it could not be included within the resurfacing scheme", the council have said.

It is a significant cut that cannot be done during the bird nesting season. This will be looked at later in the year, outside the nesting season.

Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s lead member for transport and waste services, said: “We are continuing to develop plans for further phases of future schemes to improve the safety of the junction and in May will receive the output from the feasibility report which we will then we be able to review to consider the next steps around this.

“We share the concerns of the community about the number of incidents on this stretch of road.

"Driver behaviour contributes to around 90 per cent of serious road collisions we would urge all drivers – if you are getting behind the wheel of a car please act responsibly.”

The AI cameras installed last year have logged 4,500 offences in their first four months of operation, including 4,407 incidents of no seat belt being worn, 74 speeding offences clocked at over 80 mph and 119 instances of mobile phone use.

Somerset Council are continuing to support the Police in developing this project.