This week Glastonbury Town Council have started to distribute a survey to residents asking what people think about building a bypass that will allow passing traffic to avoid the current bottleneck at the foot of Glastonbury Tor on Chilkwell Street. I passionately believe a new road is necessary not just to alleviate road safety concerns but because Mendip cannot currently be accessed from the M5 by roads on which two HGVs can pass.
Leaving the M5 at Weston, HGVs cannot pass at Banwell, Cheddar, Draycott and Westbury-sub-Mendip. Even if they go over the hills from Weston, the Banwell bottleneck is still in their way and there are parts of Burrington Coombe where they can’t pass too.
Leaving at Burnham-on-Sea, HGVs cannot pass on the B3139 in Wedmore nor in Henton and as a long linear village, there are often traffic bottlenecks in Mark too. Leaving at Bridgwater North is no better as HGVs cannot pass at Ashcott and, as with Mark, there are often obstructions in Walton too.
Once in Mendip, we still have bottlenecks that impede progress in Glastonbury if on the A361 and in Croscombe if on the A371.
Some will think a new road doesn’t just alleviate existing traffic but attracts new traffic as well. We must recognise those concerns. But how many more coach trips might visit the Mendip towns on route to the far south west if only we were that bit easier to reach from the M5? And how many businesses might be attracted to a Mendip if only they could get goods in and out that bit quicker?
The answer in my view is a series of new roads around Ashcott and Walton and then in Glastonbury so that there is an obviously quicker route from the M5 into Mendip. In providing that better route, we’ll probably reduce the amount of traffic on the A371 and on the B3139 so people in Westbury-sub-Mendip, Cheddar and Wedmore win just as much as those in Ashcott, Walton and Glastonbury.