Town councillors have this week called for millions of pounds of improvements to Burnham-On-Sea’s M5 motorway junction.
They want changes introduced to improve traffic flows and reduce queues and tailbacks at peak times.
Councillors say more should be done to ease congestion along Burnham’s Queens Drive every morning as commuters approach the Edithmead roundabout, and in the evenings on the M5 itself when queues often stretch back along the hard shoulder at peak times.
Cllr Andy Brewer said: “Improvements are definitely needed. The Highways Agency has admitted that junction 22 is among the worst in the southern section of the M5.”
“The latest changes to the Edithmead roundabout are not helping the flow of traffic heading to or from from the motorway.”
And Cllr Paul Young added: “Junction 22 badly needs improving – there are now more queues than ever.”
“The layout of the roundabout, right, has recently changed for the worse. It needs three lanes in both the Burnham and Highbridge directions.”
Cllr Bill Hancock agreed, adding: “An extra lane going onto the roundabout would ease a lot of the problems.”
But Cllr Phil Harvey said the work would be a huge cost, explaining: “This will be a major multi-million pound project – it’s not something that can be funded locally. We need national funding to take this forward.”
The issue was considered during this week’s discussions about possible local infrastructure improvements in Sedgemoor’s Local Plan, which is currently out for consultation.
Councillors decided not to seek funding for the M5 improvements at this time from the local funding, saying that the work should be funded nationally instead.
