Yeovil MP Adam Dance says he welcomes the plan to 'pause' the dualling scheme from the A358 from Taunton to Ilminster.

Last week (August 21) National Highways announced that a major road improvement scheme in Somerset has been officially “paused” after the government announced a review into major transport projects across the country.

National Highways (formerly Highways England) has been working for several years on a planned scheme to dual the A358 between the Southfields roundabout in Ilminster and junction 25 of the M5 in Taunton, holding numerous public consultations to gain residents’ input.

Read more: A358 dualling scheme between Ilminster and Taunton 'paused'

In response to the recent announcement Adam Dance MP says he welcomes' National Highway's plan to have a 'rethink' the 'dualling scheme' from Ilminster to Taunton.

“After a chequered history, a rethink of the plan to dual all of the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton is to be welcomed. 

"It is clear action is needed to help this important road link work better,  but I have never been supportive of dualing of the whole length between Ilminster and Taunton.  This is a huge scheme, costly and time consuming.

"I believe that smaller scale changes which deal with the particular pinch points, such as a bypass at Henlade and changes to the A303 Southfields roundabout, are important. In conjunction the Ilminster bypass needs to be taken into consideration to improve the safety of this lethal route.  These smaller projects will be much quicker to design and implement (look at the length of time it has taken to dual the A303 around Sparkford - now overrun in both cost and time), and be more cost effective.  

"At the same time I would like to see real improvements in transport services for those without easy access to car travel, and that is why I want improvements to public transport as well as appropriate and effective improvements to our road network."