BRIDGWATER-bound commuters will soon be able to grill councillors and officers over three sets of roadworks which are expected to cause disruption for more than a year.

The town is currently the site of three major sets of roadworks: the delivery of the Celebration Mile in the town centre, the £10.7m upgrade to the Dunball roundabout near junction 23 of the M5, and improvements linked to delivering the Agratas gigafactory within the nearby Gravity enterprise zone.

Each of these major infrastructure projects needs to be delivered within a very limited time-frame, with both the Celebration Mile and the Dunball upgrade having strict deadlines on how central government funding can be spent.

To assuage residents’ and businesses’ fears, Somerset Council is staging a public drop-in event at Bridgwater Town Hall (itself recently regenerated under the Bridgwater town deal) on November 20.

Work to supply the site of the planned Agratas electric car battery facility has been ongoing since September. Work along the A39 Bath Road from Crandon Bridge will be completed on November 15, after which two-way traffic flow on this stretch of road will be reinstated.

Between November 15 and December 19, a one-way system will be in place on the A39 Puriton Hill, meaning traffic coming from Glastonbury and Street will not be able to directly access junction 23 – instead being diverted into the town centre and back along the A38 Bristol Road.

These restrictions will be lifted between December 19 and January 10, 2025 to give residents and businesses some respite over the Christmas period - just as the council’s upgrade to Hurdle Way in Taunton will also be paused for two weeks.

The one-way system will then be reintroduced on Puriton Hill from January 11 to February 9, with a further set of roadworks expected in the same area early in the spring.

At Dunball, work will officially commence on Monday (November 11) and will be carried out under temporary traffic lights and lane closures for the remainder of 2024.

Three sets of overnight closures (i.e. between 7.30pm and 5am) will be required in early-2025 on the A39 between the roundabout and junction 23, with the council confirming in late-October that these will be in place from January 6 to 10, February 10 to 14 and March 3 to 14.

During these times, motorists can still use junction 23 to leave the M5 but will be diverted along the A39 Puriton Hill eastbound towards Knowle and enter the town via the A39 Bath Road and the Cross Rifles roundabout.

Councillor Richard Wilkins, portfolio holder for transport and waste services, said the drop-in event was an excellent opportunity for the public to ask questions about all three schemes.

He said: “All these works are about improvements and investment, but we know it is going to be a very busy period on the Bridgwater network and ask for people’s patience in advance.”

People can ask questions on November 20 between 12.30pm and 6.30pm.