Green Light For Reckleford Highway Improvements
Work is due to start this month on a major highway project, which aims to rid the town on one of its worst traffic hotspots. The long awaited delivery of the Reckleford highway improvement scheme is set to begin August 17 under Yeovil Vision plans.
Approval was given in July by the funding partners to award the construction contract to Aggregate Industries’ Bardon Contracting. Bardon Contracting were the outright winner of the tendering process having scored highest in both the quality and price criteria. As part of their work, a public information event is already being planned, which will provide residents and businesses with information on the scheduling of work, plans for traffic management through the construction phase, and a question and answer opportunity.
The new highway design will reinstate two-way traffic along the A30 at the eastern end of Reckleford, removing the congestion around the area known locally as the ‘Bermuda Triangle’ that funnels A30 traffic passed the Western Gazette building and down Wyndham Street.
The first job will be to demolish the old Cooker King premises to make room for the new dual road that will run directly into town from the A30. The works are due to complete in late November in time for the Christmas selling season.
Cllr Tony Fife, Portfolio Holder for Yeovil Vision and South Somerset District Council Area South Chairman commented, “This is only one step and one section of a large and complicated jigsaw which, when put together, will greatly improve the traffic flow in the town centre. Reckleford is just the start.
“The removal of the bottleneck in traffic will relieve congestion, and also allow the area to regenerate and attract more investment. This was an aspiration that came out of the community review of transport and was the highest priority, around ten years ago. Yeovil Vision, South Somerset District Council, and all of the partners have been working on with the help of local people who have given us their views, for a long time and we are pleased that work will now proceed.”
The scheme at Reckleford is just one of a series of roadwork projects planned by the partners South Somerset District Council, Yeovil Town Council, Somerset County Council and Yeovil Vision. The A30 Corridor Project as it is known, aims to improve slow moving traffic that at peak times runs from the Horsley roundabout by the Police station, through Queensway and onto Reckleford.
Alan Brown Projects Director for Yeovil Vision said “ The scheme has been an aspiration for the Vision for many years, and apart from relieving congestion it will also act as a stimulus for a wider regeneration of the eastern end of Yeovil. This scheme is an excellent example of what can be achieved through partnership working.”
In addition to the road works, there will also be improvements to tidy up the uninspiring Reckleford street scene and the creation of a green gateway as a more positive entrance to the town. The Public voted for their favourite design, at a Public Exhibition in December, where four public realm designs were presented. A green space, planted with specimen shrubs and Plane Tree will welcome visitors to the town.