Work begins to make 'difficult junction' safer

Safety work has begun on a road in Somerset, thought to have been the site of more than 35 crashes in the past 20 years.

In the past seven years alone, two people have died at the Miner's Arms Junction near Priddy on the Mendip Hills. The junction connects the B3134 and the B3135.

The junction will be realigned with a new section of road, and a new lower speed limit will be put in place.

Somerset Council said it hoped to have the road reopened in July.

Speaking to BBC Radio Somerset, Avon and Somerset Police Ch Insp Robert Cheeseman said: "Although it feels fairly open, the junction can actually come up to drivers quite quickly, and there are stop lines there that can be missed, and that's when we've seen vehicles venture into the junction when it's not safe, where we've had that very high number of collisions."

He said after the improvements the junction would be "offset", which means it will no longer be a "through" crossroads, which he said would "make a huge difference" to stopping and slowing down drivers.

He also said drivers on rural roads should take notice of speed limits and think about the layout of the road.

Councillor Richard Wilkins, Somerset Council's lead on transport said: "Many people will be familiar with this difficult junction – it was identified as priority some years ago, but due to the scope of the work required it has taken some time to identify and ringfence funding for this.

"I'm really pleased to see this happening.

"We appreciate there may be some minor disruption while our contractor does the work, which we will keep to a minimum. 

"I think we can agree it’s worth it to ensure the chance of death or serious injury on this junction is significantly reduced."