At a special meeting at the Town Hall today EDF reps confirmed that works would start on the final phasing of the Taunton road/Broadway junction works on 16th of June and with the newly agreed night-working, St Mary street would be open by the 29th. The end is now finally in sight for the longsuffering town centre traders and Bridgwater’s commuters!

The meeting, chaired by Mayor of Bridgwater Cllr Leigh Redman, confirmed that the North section works to the junction would start on 16th June with planing and slot cutting, which EDF admit will be ‘quite noisy’, and with the bulk of the disruption stretching from 7pm through the night until 6 in the morning but with the noisiest parts finishing by 11pm. Diversions during this phase will be in place and will direct people down the NDR. This phase will last until the 21st June.

The second phase of the operation will see the Southern Section works repeating the same procedure between the 21st and 29th June with official diversions sending people off via Alpha Centaurii , although in reality local people will soon find ways around it including the M5 and various backlanes.

Residents kept informed throughout

300 letters have been sent out to residents in the vicinity as requested by Town Councillors at the last meeting and a second drop is imminent and will inform people of key numbers to call and the key times and dates. With the resurfacing works finished by the end of June the new lights will start to come into commission in early July. The routes will continue to be accessible to pedestrians and cyclists throughout.

Chairing the meeting, Cllr Redman said “The Town Council are glad to have found a way forward which has sped up the works and will bring the disruption to an end sooner rather than later.”