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£2bn South West road plans
Emma Kennedy - October 20, 2015

Highways England  met with suppliers and stakeholders to set out how £2bn of government investment to improve the capacity of roads in the South West will be delivered.

The investment will see improvements being developed along a series of motorways and A roads between now and 2021, giving road users simpler, faster and more reliable journeys. It will also boost the region’s economy and help to bring the country closer together.

The work is part of the government’s Road Investment Strategy to triple levels of spending on roads by the end of the decade, which was announced last year. Highways England, the government-owned company which took over responsibility for England’s motorways and major A roads earlier this year, set out its plan for the South West at an event in Yeovil earlier.

Highlights included:

  • a new junction on the M49 at Avonmouth
  • improvements to the M5 J23 at Bridgwater
  • an upgrade to an 8.7 mile section of single carriageway on the A30 between Carland Cross and Chiverton Cross roundabouts
  • development of a scheme on the A303 Amesbury to Berwick Down route that passes Stonehenge, including building a tunnel
  • dualling the A303 between Sparkford and IIchester
  • dualling the A358 from the M5 at Taunton to A303 at Southfields
  • investigations into the benefits of connecting the 2 dual carriageway sections of the A417 near Birdlip, Gloucestershire
  • Across the South West, Highways England will also pump millions into maintenance schemes, environmental improvements and provision for cyclists.