Three Yeovil town centre roads to shut until Christmas

Three key streets in Yeovil town centre will be closed to traffic until Christmas as the next phase of a major regeneration scheme takes shape. South Somerset District Council has been attempting to revitalise the town centre through its Yeovil Refresh programme, delivering improvements to the public realm and local transport and trying to encourage new development. The programme has been beset with issues, with the council’s district executive voting in January to allocate further funding to deal with a GBP4.2m budget gap across the various projects.[1][2][3][4] In one of its final actions before being abolished on Saturday (April 1), the council has confirmed that The Borough, High Street and Hendford will all be closed off to traffic from April 11 until just before Christmas [5], as the next phase of public realm improvements are implemented.

The road closures will be in force for 36 weeks from Tuesday, April 11 (the day after the Easter [6] Monday bank holiday [7]) – meaning they will last until December 19. The council said that closing the roads entirely would “ensure that the works will be undertaken with greater efficiency”, reducing the overall length of the disruption to residents, motorists and businesses. A spokesman said: “Based on previous delays to works where 24/7 road closures were not possible, our calculations show that there would be a significant increase to cost and would take an additional four to five months to complete.”

Pedestrian access will be maintained throughout, and emergency services will also be able to reach the town centre unimpeded. Blue badge holders who would normally park on High Street are advised to use either Princes Street or other on-street locations, in addition to the off-street car parks which are currently available. The council has worked with local bus companies to ensure services will not be unnecessarily disrupted, with an alternative route being agreed and implemented.

An alternative stop will be provided on Court Ash for the duration of the roadworks, after which buses will proceed on to the bus station in Glovers Walk [9] as usual.

The Borough in Yeovil town centre (Image: South Somerset District Council)

Taxi companies will still be able to access the Silver Street taxi rank via Middle Street, and the council’s contractor SWH will be liaising with businesses on the three closed roads to ensure deliveries can still be made and bins are still collected. Utility companies will be working on this diversion route for a two-week period – but the dates for this have yet to be confirmed. Councillor Peter Gubbins, portfolio holder for the Yeovil [10] Refresh, said: “We are excited to begin this phase of the programme which will, once complete, create improved shared spaces that are greener and easier to navigate.

“We do, however, appreciate the disruption that businesses, residents and visitors to the High Street will experience over the duration of the works, and are working hard with our partners, SWH Ltd., to ensure these are minimised, with alternative provisions in place wherever possible.” The Yeovil Refresh is expected to cost around GBP24m in total, with the work on all aspects of the public realm, active travel network and other transport improvements expected to finish by the end of 2024 [11]. The remaining elements of the programme will be overseen by the new unitary Somerset Council [12], which replaces the five existing county and district councils in Somerset [13] on Saturday (April 1).

References

^ South Somerset District Council (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ its Yeovil Refresh programme (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ The programme has been beset with issues (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ voting in January to allocate further funding to deal with a GBP4.2m budget gap across the various projects. (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Christmas (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Easter (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ bank holiday (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Asda security guard reveals why self-scan checkout cameras scan customers’ faces (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Glovers Walk (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Yeovil (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ expected to finish by the end of 2024 (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Somerset Council (www.somersetlive.co.uk)
^ Somerset (www.somersetlive.co.uk)