Huntworth Roundabout is a key junction in Bridgwater’s highway network, providing the link to the Strategic Highway Network (the M5), and also being part of the Taunton to Bridgwater bus corridor. The junction has experienced significant peak-time congestion and queuing, impacting on access to nearby employment and residential areas and causing blocking back towards the M5 Junction 24 roundabout.
Sedgemoor District Council’s (SDC) Core Strategy anticipates that the South Bridgwater area will accommodate some 17 hectares (ha) of employment land at Bridgwater Gateway. As a whole, this site is anticipated to generate 1,700 jobs. In addition to this, the Huntworth improvement supports continued housing development at the South Bridgwater Urban Extension, and wider growth at Bridgwater town centre.
The project involved increasing the capacity of the Huntworth junction through the provision of additional traffic lanes and introduction of traffic signal control of the roundabout.
The three main objectives of the project, and their related outcomes are:-
- Alleviating Congestion – to provide improved traffic flow and reduced peak time delays and queue lengths, including reduction of queues blocking back to the J24 roundabout.
- Supporting Economic Growth – to enable creation of jobs and increase the skill base of the local population. To also improve access for employees and deliveries to local businesses.
- Safer Travel – to reduce the severity of road collisions and to make it safer for cyclists and pedestrians, with routes segregated from general traffic.
Outputs:
Development delivered/unlocked by scheme: 973 dwellings 1,700 jobs
The scheme will also contribute to delivery of the Local Plan allocations across Bridgwater, including the town centre, of 4,418 dwellings 5,515 jobs and 16,000sqm retail space.
Total scheme cost: £4.63m
Growth Deal 1 Funding: £1.91m
Started on site: November 2015
Completed: July 2016
