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To: Highways England, Secretary of State for Transport

Provide a cyclepath with the A358 upgrading

As part of Highways England's £250-£450m scheme to upgrade the A358, we call for:
1. A quality cycletrack between Ilminster and Taunton
2. Safe and attractive crossing to A358/Junction 25 at the M5-a bridge or a tunnel
3. Confirmation that wherever the road cuts across quiet rural lanes, safe crossings will be provided

Why is this important?

There is substantial scope to encourage more cycling to work and for other purposes, in the Ilminster-Taunton A358 corridor. There are numerous communities close by and a major 4000 job development is planned. Taunton is a designated Garden Town which means a bigger emphasis on sustainanble travel. The road scheme is an opportunity to address this. Doing it later will be far more costly. The A358 is a terrifying road to use. Why should people have to be terrified in order to take a simple journey? Instead, a cycletrack along the A358 could become part of the National Cycle Network benefiting families and children, as well as day to day cycling.

Taunton Deane District and South Somerset

Maps © Stamen; Data © OSM and contributors, ODbL

Updates

2022-04-02 10:59:13 +0100

We have finally got an official response from National Highways ), which we received after officially complaining that they had not provided this. We feel that their response falls way short of expectations, given the current emphasis on active travel and climate/environmental issues.

Somerset County Council is in a strong position to influence National Highways. We have asked repeatedly to meet with them on this issue but no meeting has been offered.

Our MP Rebecca Pow has supported our campaign in the past.

Call for action: Please email the leader of Somerset CC [email protected] and Rebecca Pow via https://www.rebeccapow.org.uk/contact and ask them to use their influence to get a better outcome for active travel i.e. a continuous, direct and safe Ilminster-Taunton route, less severance of existing routes and an effective crossing at J25.
For more info and NH's response see:
https://thetacc.org.uk/a358-national-highways-response-to-our-petition/

2021-05-06 15:24:21 +0100

1,000 signatures reached

2018-04-14 19:08:32 +0100

500 signatures reached

2018-03-13 13:19:19 +0000

100 signatures reached

2018-03-02 16:21:48 +0000

50 signatures reached

2018-02-28 18:45:27 +0000

25 signatures reached

2018-02-25 07:16:53 +0000

10 signatures reached