New Roads Programme

[whole diary]

[Red Squirrel]

According to Friends of the Earth, it looks like the 'Callington Link Road' (^97M) is back on the cards as part of the government's New Roads Programme.

This may be of interest here because it uses an old railway alignment - in this case the North Somerset line, from Whitby Rd to the A4174. There is also talk of bypasses for Whitchurch (^20M), and Clutton and Temple Cloud (^133M) - the latter of which could be assumed to be aligned with the B&NS.

The northern link from the A4174 at Emersons Green to a new jct 18A on the M4 (^112M) is also back on by the look of it; I get the impression that this would need to run parallel to the Midland route rather than using it, but someone here may know better!

Unless you've slept through every news bulletin today, you'll already know that the A303 schemes are back on the front burner.

[Red Squirrel]

Actually, looking at the (arguably slightly more reliable) gov.uk website it looks like they're not doing most of that. Hey ho.

[JayMac]

I await with interest the detailed plans for dualling the A358 to M5 J25.

Quite how they are going to dual through, or bypass Henlade/Ruishton without some compulsory purchase of homes will be interesting. Even if they can thread a dual carriageway through this area I expect there will be vociferous pro- and anti- campaigns. Pro- from those property owners currently on the main road should a bypass be built, and anti- from those property owners who will be blighted by a new alignment.

[LiskeardRich]

I await with interest the detailed plans for dualling the A358 to M5 J25.

Quite how they are going to dual through, or bypass Henlade/Ruishton without some compulsory purchase of homes will be interesting. Even if they can thread a dual carriageway through this area I expect there will be vociferous pro- and anti- campaigns. Pro- from those property owners currently on the main road should a bypass be built, and anti- from those property owners who will be blighted by a new alignment.

I drive the A358 quite frequently. Does it actually need dualling? I've yet to be caught in traffic at any times of the day.

[JayMac]

I drive the A358 quite frequently. Does it actually need dualling? I've yet to be caught in traffic at any times of the day.

Then you've been lucky.

[Thatcham Crossing]

Does this really include the dualing of the Blackdown Hills section of the A303? If so, that seems like a massive job.

[grahame]

Does this really include the dualing of the Blackdown Hills section of the A303? If so, that seems like a massive job.

No - using the A358

The Government opted against a dual-carriageway through Somerset^s Blackdown Hills on the A303 against fears of huge damage to the environment ...

To do this, ministers have announced plans to dig a dualled 1.8-mile tunnel under Stonehenge, plus a bypass around nearby villages, and a dual carriageway between Ilchester and Sparkford on the A303.

The single-carriageway A358 from Southfields to the M5 at Taunton will also be upgraded. This part of the package will cost ^2 billion, and the Government hopes it will be completed by the Highways Agency within ten years.

Read more: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Government-avoids-expressway-dual-carriageway/story-24966119-detail/story.html

[Wilf19]

I've had the dubious pleasure of using the A358 and A303 a lot over the years,  and know a few people that commute along it . Fortunately my need to use them both has reduced recently - the recession does have some plus points! There are usually fairly hefty queues through Henlade during the morning and evening peaks,  it can cause queuing back onto the M5 and into Taunton in the evening.

Some years ago,  on one of the many previous occasions that dualing the A303 and A358 has come up, I'm sure there was some talk of diverting the A358 by-passing Henlade and joining the M5 at a new junction (25A?) somewhere near where the Blackbrook leisure centre is now. But I'm not sure how much that would help as it wouldn't be any good for traffic going into Taunton unless they bulldoze a large chunk of the housing estate west of the M5 at that point.

[LiskeardRich]

But I'm not sure how much that would help as it wouldn't be any good for traffic going into Taunton unless they bulldoze a large chunk of the housing estate west of the M5 at that point.

My brother lives in that housing estate so I don't think he'd be appreciative of being bulldozed 

[JayMac]

I'm guessing at a wide loop to the south of Henlade from somewhere near the junction with the A378 and The Nags Head, to the rear of the Park+Ride (possibly including access to that) and joining J25 of the M5 with that junction being substantially remodelled.

I think the battery chicken farm next to J25 will have to go.

It's not going to be easy to thread a dual carriageway through this area though without one or two properties having to be bulldozed.

[Thatcham Crossing]

I don't know that particular area BNM, but suspect it will be easier than threading a dual carriageway through the Blackdown Hills! (a piece of road I do know).

Thanks to those that responded with the answer to my previous question on that subject.

[paul7575]

Interesting the way these roads projects get spun by the various PR^▸ (Public Relations) people.   

As an example, but completely off our patch, having been brought up in the north east I was interested to see the latest about dualling the A1 in north Northumberland.   Much of the media went with something along the lines of DfT^» (Department for Transport - about) confirming 'dualling the A1 from London to Ellingham".   That seems a lot but other articles more reasonably described "completion of dualling from Morpeth to Ellingham.  But the reality is that the majority of the road is already dualled, what they are actually doing is a couple of short sections joining three existing dual carriageway sections together, no more than about 12 miles in total.  The gaps are between the Morpeth bypass, the Alnwick bypass, and another short dual section bypassing Ellingham itself.  

The key point is that it is a major road safety issue, people can drive about 300 miles north from London using the M1 and A1(M) etc and never see a junction, dual 2 or 3 lanes all the way, no opposing traffic and no right turns - then suddenly the road becomes very ordinary with regular collisions featuring tired drivers on Friday nights.

By allowing (or encouraging) the media to report it all as 'major road building' they leave themselves open to widespread criticism from the green side of the debate, but this project is really a minor improvement driven by safety issues.  And Ellingham itself?  Even though born about 10 miles away I still had to look it up - and it is not even a hamlet...

Paul

[Wilf19]

Printed version of the Taunton local paper today (not in the on-line version) reports that the latest version of the Henlade by-pass will  end in a roundabout 'near' the M5 which sounds pretty much like BNM suggested above. I'll believe it when I see it, I suspect I might be long retired by the time they get around to sorting out the A303 and A358.

The same article reports that they will be improving junction 25 of the M5. I suspect that the dualing of the A303 and A358 will result in a lot of the traffic (particularity lorries) using the A358 rather than the A303 through the Blackdown Hills to get to the M5 heading south west. I hope the improved junction can cope!

I suspect that any green arguments against expanding the road network will get shouted down or overruled by the economic arguments at the moment.  But then a bit like sorting out the over crowded mess that is Heathrow, the A303 should have been sorted out years ago.

Completely agree about the safety case for these roads, although not as extreme as the example quoted by paul7755 people come belting off the end of the M3, onto A303 with right turns and then hit the two-lanes-into-one queues at Stonehenge and beyond. At least they sorted out the 'suicide lane' arrangement on the Ilminster by-pass with some double white lines, the reports in the local press of high speed collisions along there have thankfully reduced since they did that.