Somerset Council: Bridgwater Cross Rifles roundabout upgrade scrapped

Somerset County Council was awarded £10m from the government’s levelling up fund in October 2021 to deliver improvements to the ‘Bridgwater northern corridor’, which runs from the Dunball roundabout to the Cross Rifles roundabout via the A38 Bristol Road.

Its successor, Somerset Council, indicated in June 2023 that work on the Cross Rifles roundabout – where the A38  and A39 Bath Road meet – would not begin until early-2025, to allow the upgrade to the Dunball roundabout to be prioritised.

But the council announced on Monday evening (January 16) that it was “taking a new approach” to the Cross Rifles scheme – effectively scrapping it in favour of smaller-scale, cheaper improvements.

The roundabout like the A38 between the Dunball roundabout and Broadway with the A39 from Glastonbury and The Clink, which leads to the Leggar business park and the town centre.

It is named after the pub on its northern side, which in turn takes its name from the Monmouth Rebellion on 1685, wherein the Duke of Monmouth led a rebellion among Protestant lords in the West Country in a bid to depose the Catholic king, James II.

The council has been reviewing its capital programme after declaring a financial emergency in early-November 2023, with only schemes which are fully funded through central government grants or housing developments being taken forward.

The new proposal is designed to reduce congestion at the junction and “address the transport needs of the town without requiring significant disruption for residents and road users.”

The council has been reviewing its capital programme after declaring a financial emergency in early-November 2023. (Image: Daniel Mumby)

Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and digital, said it was not acceptable to take the original scheme forward in light of high inflation in the construction industry and pressure on other council services.

He said: “We needed a major rethink on this proposal, which has been around
for some years.

“Quite simply, it is no longer viable, and it would not be responsible in the current climate to continue to pursue this scheme – nor does it make environmental or logistical sense in 2024.

“What was perhaps appropriate in terms of planning ten years ago no longer applies to now and would be extremely challenging to deliver, with significant disruption – potentially up a year for the community and road users.”

To deliver the original scheme, the council would have needed to acquire land around the roundabout using compulsory purchase orders (CPOs) – following a similar process that National Highways followed before it began its ongoing A303 dualling scheme near Sparkford.

CPOs can take time to secure and may result in expensive public inquiries – with neither eventuality being desirable for the council.

Mr Wilkins (who represents the Curry Rivel and Langport division on the council) elaborated: “The scheme requires CPOs which are notoriously costly, drawn-out and unpredictable in terms of success.

“Further, having recently declared a financial emergency we are not in a position to countenance unpredictable CPO costs along with the ongoing spiralling inflation costs which are hitting the construction industry.

“Now, more than ever, we have a duty to protect and conserve council funds; although this project did receive external funding, this would not adequately cover all the additional costs.”

Instead of pursuing the original scheme, the council will be delivering smaller-scale improvements at the roundabout, including new signalised crossings and “additional active travel improvements”.

These active travel improvements will be designed to integrate the roundabout into the wider northern corridor route, joining up with existing cycle paths through the Leggar, along the A39 and up the right bank of the River Parrett to the Express Park.

This forms part of the purple route proposed in the Bridgwater local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), which will eventually link the town centre to the Gravity enterprise zone.

Following this decision, the council will focus more of the levelling up grant on the Dunball scheme, which “has the most urgent capacity and safety issues”.

The council confirmed in late-December 2023 that the £5.3m scheme (which includes £400,000 from the Bridgwater town deal) would get under way in the summer of 2024.

A spokesman stated at the time: “We have completed the design phase for Dunball and will shortly be going out to tender.

“We hope to be able to award a contract to deliver the scheme early in the new year, with a view to commencing work by the summer.

“This process has taken a little longer than anticipated because it is essential to achieve the best possible value for money, particularly in the current financial climate.”