National Highways has announced a £13m safety investment into several safety schemes in the South West, with the work starting with the A36 in Wiltshire and the A30 at Junction 29 in Exeter.
With ‘a number of serious collisions' seen on the A36 at Codford St Peter, caused in part by ‘inappropriate overtaking' due to a short and narrow left turn lane, National Highways plans to start work on ‘targeted safety enhancements' this month. These improvements are set to include:
- Building a new, dedicated left turn lane for eastbound vehicles exiting the A36 into Codford St Peter to help reduce unsafe overtaking manoeuvres
- Upgrading drainage systems to help ensure surface water is cleared from the carriageway as quickly as possible
- Improving pedestrian crossing points on the A36 between High Street and Sherrington Lane
- Renewing road markings
- Improving signage
- Carrying out vegetation works to enhance the condition and biodiversity of the nearby woodland
National Highways hopes that by extending the length and width of the left turn lane, it will reduce inappropriate overtaking and help improve visibility of all vehicles as they approach the junction.
Starting on 20 April, the work is expected to take seven weeks to complete, with four-way temporary traffic lights, weekend closures, weeknight closures, and junction closures used during the scheme.
For the A30/M5 project, National Highways is planning on installing seven yellow box junctions on both the east and westbound carriageways. Since 2021, there have been 13 reported collisions on the A30 by junction 29, with over three quarters of them related to vehicles running red lights.
These new box junctions are intended to prevent vehicles from queuing across the junction during busy periods, removing obstructions and allowing for traffic to flow freely. They will also be enforced by the local police via a camera van bay that will also be installed as part of the project.
National Highways also plans to carry out safety schemes at the following locations throughout this financial year:
- A30 Kennards House to Five Lanes
- M5 J29 to 31 barrier gap closures
- A38 Wobblywheel to Splatford
- A35 Honiton to Charmouth
These works include projects ranging from reviewing speed limits and speed camera systems to barrier gap closures and junction improvements.
Jack Mason, South West road safety manager, said: ‘The enhancements we are introducing on the A36 and A30 are targeted works and just the beginning of improvements this year, aiming to reduce the number of people harmed on the region's roads.'
Alongside this, there are also several larger schemes taking place, such as the A417 Missing Link scheme, as well as ‘smaller yet important' targeted interventions tackling issues such as wrong-way driving at junctions.
