Work is due to start later this month on measures to help improve safety along the A361 at Frome and at its junction with the A362.
Somerset Council has been working on proposals to reduce the chance of serious and fatal road collisions on the stretch of road and this phase includes:
- Junction resurfacing works, to improve the quality of the road surface
- The introduction of a 50mph speed limit on the A361 and 40mph on the A362 approach
- Central hatching along the bypass
The work is scheduled to get under way during the week beginning 11 May over 3 nights. It follows on from a joint initiative with Avon and Somerset Police and the Council which started last autumn and saw AI cameras positioned on the bypass which are capable of detecting unsafe driving.
Sadly, driver behaviour and poor decision making often contribute to serious and fatal collisions.
The A361 Frome Bypass, used by around 15,000 motorists a day, has seen 5 fatalities in the last 5 years – 4 of these between 2023 and 2024.
The latest package of works will need a full road closure between 7pm and 6am. While some local disruption is anticipated, this has been minimised through the coordination of all works within a single programme.
The road markings will be more visible and make a slight noise warning when driven over. Extending the protected right turn area for drivers waiting to turn right into the junction will be considered in future, as small scale changes could not be made safely with the current available road width.
Cutting back vegetation to help further improve the visibility at the A361/A362 junction, has had to be delayed because it could not be included within the resurfacing scheme. It is a significant cut that cannot be done in bird nesting season. This will be looked at later in the year, outside the nesting season.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services, said:
We are continuing to develop plans for further phases of future schemes to improve the safety of the junction and in May will receive the output from the feasibility report which we will then we be able to review to consider the next steps around this.
We share the concerns of the community about the number of incidents on this stretch of road. Driver behaviour contributes to around 90 per cent of serious road collisions we would urge all drivers – if you are getting behind the wheel of a car please act responsibly.
The AI cameras installed last year have logged 4,500 offences in their first four months of operation, including 4,407 incidents of no seat belt being worn, 74 speeding offences clocked at over 80 mph and 119 instances of mobile phone use. We are continuing to support the Police on developing this project.
