AN important road into an Exmoor village is due to be closed next week for up to a fortnight while council contractors clear vegetation and BT relocates some telephone poles.

The B3224 between Wheddon Cross and Exford will be shut on weekdays starting on Monday (October 16) between 9.30 am and 3.30 pm daily.

The road has been subject to ‘temporary’ traffic lights restricting it to one-way traffic since a tree fell and damaged an embankment during winter storms three years ago.

Now, Somerset Council’s highways team wants to carry out important vegetation clearance on the road at Roundwaters, near Exford.

The work requires a full road closure for it to be carried out safely and the council was able to agree with Openreach that it could take advantage of an already-arranged closure when the utility firm will be conducting its own works.

Openreach will be carrying out some pole relocation on the site, which provides an ideal time for the council to clear vegetation when the road was closed anyway.

The council is still planning an embankment stabilisation scheme at Roundwaters in the near future after it failed to meet a target to start this month.

The embankment supporting the B3224 failed during stormy weather in the winter of 2020-21 when a large tree was brought down and took with it a significant portion of the bank next to the carriageway.

A single lane closure was put in place to prevent vehicles running too close to the unstable edge of the carriageway and its associated drop and has been in place ever since.

The council is planning to instal a 73 feet long steel sheet piled retaining wall with associated drainage and highways improvements, a vehicle restraint system with approach and departure protection barriers to prevent motorists going over a vertical drop, and carriageway resurfacing.

The embankment stabilisation project, which will also need a full road closure, was due to start next week but delays in finalising the plans have held it up and the work is now not anticipated until mid-to-late November and could run through Christmas.

Residents will be invited to a community event once the scheme has been finalised where they can quiz council staff, consultants, and contractors.

A council spokesperson said: “The B3224 is a really important route.

“However, these works are essential and once completed will remove the traffic management from this location and reopen the road to its pre-collapse capacity.”

The spokesperson said the vegetation clearance was ‘crucially important’ for all road users in the area.

“Carrying out the prep work while the road is already closed prevents another unnecessary closure before the stabilisation scheme takes place,” said the spokesperson.

“We appreciate this may be disruptive, so please ensure you plan ahead.”

Access for residents and businesses in the immediate area will be maintained throughout and a diversion will be in place, with full details available nearer the time here.

West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger said he was pleased the council and BT had synchronised their activities in order to keep the closure as short as possible.

But he said people living ‘anywhere near’ the route should be extra cautious when using local roads for the next two weeks.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said: “Although the official diversions direct drivers onto quite acceptable alternative routes it is inevitable that many with local knowledge will attempt to navigate past this closure on by-roads that are not designed to carry high levels of traffic.

“I would just urge all local people to be exceptionally alert when they are out and about for the next fortnight.”