THE next stage of major roadworks supporting a multi-billion-pound battery facility in Puriton will start next week.

This is part of continuing work on the £4bn Agratas facility, which is expected to bring massive investment to the area and up to 4,000 jobs at the Gravity site.

From March 4 to March 18, further power connectivity work will be undertaken at Crandon Bridge on the A39 under temporary traffic lights. This is expected to cause disruption at peak times.

Significant work on local roads are required to complete the project. In recent months, this has allowed work to be done to connect the facility to the National Grid.

The next major set of works will connect the Gravity site to various utilities. This requires the phased closure of sections of Woolavington Road between the Enterprise Way roundabout and Woolavington village.

The closures will start from April 14 and last for up to five months. Details of which sections will be closed when will be shared locally when they have been finalised.

Gravity and Agratas’ contractors hope to complete the works in less than five months.

Somerset Council’s traffic management team has been liaising with contractors to coordinate their work to make sure the road is not closed multiple times.

Further works on the A39 Bath Road and Puriton Hill will be carried out later this year to complete the power connection, but this will not happen at the same time as the Woolavington Road closure.

Elsewhere, work is also ongoing to improve capacity at the Dunball roundabout linked to junction 23 of the M5.

There will need to be some evening closures of the A39 link road between junction 23 and Dunball. The motorway junction will remain open and a diversion will be in place. These closures will be 7.30pm to 5am from:

Somerset Council’s lead member for transport and waste services Richard Wilkins (Liberal Democrats, Curry Rivel and Langport) said: “The Agratas facility is a huge investment in Somerset and will be a massive long-term boost for the local area and county as a whole.

“Investment of this kind always brings some unavoidable disruption and we are incredibly grateful for everyone’s support and patience – the end goal will be worth it.

“Our team has been working closely with all contractors to make sure that if we need a closure like this all necessary connectivity work is done in one go, without the need to return at a later date.

“We understand that closing Woolavington Road is no small thing and we are hopeful that everything can be done in less than five months. We have been in contact with community leaders, residents and businesses to ensure any disruption is mitigated as much as possible.”

Any problems spotted on the road can be reported quickly on Somerset Council’s website.

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