ONE of Bridgwater’s busiest road junctions won’t be upgraded until early-2025.

Somerset Council has over £10million to upgrade the town's 'northern corridor', but work on the busy Cross Rifles roundabout won't start for at least 18 months.

Improvements to he A38 Broadway, which leads into the roundabout, are currently taking place and expected to be completed this month.

But the council has not published any initial designs for the Cross Rifles upgrade.

A spokesman said: “This is a complex scheme which involves the acquisition of land in the immediate area. Work is ongoing to progress this and involves several parties.

“We’re not able to outline costs at this point as land negotiation can be a difficult process and is subject to variables depending on agreements reached.

“We can confirm that we have received just under £5million from the government’s levelling up fund, and a further £2million was allocated from Hinkley Point C and the north-east Bridgwater

developments.”

The council wants to time the Cross Rifles upgrade to take place after work on the Dunball roundabout - expected to be finished next February 2024) - and after the delivery of the Celebration Mile in the town centre, expected to start in October.

The spokesman added: “As with any major scheme, outlining specific timings is difficult when there are so many moving parts. Our aim would be to commence construction early in 2025.”

Councillor Diogo Rodrigues, shadow portfolio holder for transport and digital, said he is “hugely disappointed” at the delay.

He said: “I recognise that there are inflationary pressures on cost, but this is a scheme that was announced only a few months ago and inflationary pressures would have been considered when bidding for the funding.

“The scheme is meant to create additional capacity for traffic, cutting journey times and congestion and boost the transport connectivity in and around Bridgwater.

“Many of the new housing developments in Bridgwater, especially those in Bower and Kingsdown, are betting on the improvement of key junctions like this one to reduce the traffic pressures that new developments will create.

“If the council cannot deliver this key infrastructure project, then how can these new housing developments, which will create huge pressure on our road infrastructure, go ahead?

“My other concern is whether this is the start of a domino effect, and will we see other schemes across the county start to fall back too."