Speed limits are now in place along the A361 at Frome and at its junction with the A362 as part of measures to help improve safety on the major road.
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, which began at the start of last week, follows on from a joint initiative with Avon and Somerset Police and the Council launched last autumn when AI cameras, capable of detecting unsafe driving, were positioned on the bypass.
Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services, said:
I am pleased to see these safety improvements now in place, reinforcing our commitment to improve safety along this stretch of road. We are continuing to develop plans for further phases of future schemes.
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 so we would urge all drivers – if you are getting behind the wheel of a car please act responsibly.
The scheme will be monitored and the Council will also investigate what other measures could be taken, while taking safety evidence and the impact on the wider network into account.
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 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.
