A KEY walking and cycling route between the M5 and Wellington town centre will be upgraded as part of a new ten-year plan for the town.

Somerset Council has published its Wellington local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), which assessed the town’s existing active travel network and identifies where improvements are needed.

Five routes across the town (and the neighbouring village of Rockwell Green) have been prioritised for future investment as the council seeks to encourage greener transport, cutting congestion and pollution in the face of local housing growth.

At the top of the priority list is the Chelston to Wellington link, which connects the town centre to the Chelston Business Park, the Westpark 26 employment zone and other developments north of junction 26 of the motorway.

Here’s everything you need to know:

What is the Wellington LCWIP?

LCWIPs are ten-year plans which focus on improving walking and cycling networks across major settlements, making it easier for people to travel to work, school or other local facilities without relying on the private car.

The plans have been developed through consultation with the council’s local community networks (which have been driving forward improvements in rural areas), cycling charities and campaign groups.

Having these plans in place makes it easier for the council to secure funding for identified improvements – either by applying for grants from central government, or by negotiating financial contributions from new housing developments.

The council has already published a number of plans for other settlements in Somerset – including Bridgwater, Frome, Taunton and Yeovil, as well as a broader plan for the former Mendip area.

This latest plan has been released alongside two other LCWIPs in areas which are seeing high demand for new housing – one for Chard, and a combined plan for Burnham-on-Sea and Highbridge.

In each case, the LCWIP is designed to be an “evolving plan”, with the chosen improvements being subject to change depending upon the views of local residents or the availability of funding.

Which five routes will be prioritised over the coming decade?

The LCWIP identifies a “core walking zone” within Wellington town centre which should be “a focus for infrastructure improvements to benefit walking and wheeling journeys”.

This may include the provision of new cycle lanes, cycle parking areas, charging points for electric bicycles, improved surfacing for existing pavements or a range of other measures.

Each of the five routes identified within the LCWIP feed into or terminate at this town centre zone, ensuring that local businesses and facilities remain the focal point as new housing is delivered further and further afield.

The five routes are as follows:

Will these routes support new housing in the town?

These routes have been identified in part to encourage sustainable journeys from both existing housing developments and new sites which will come forward for delivery in the next few years.

Several sites are at various stages of construction, including the Jurston Fields development (650 homes on the A38 West Buckland Road) and the Monument View site (200 homes and a care home on Exeter Road) – with new development planned along or near many of the prioritised routes.

For instance, Route 1 is expected to begin on Exeter Road near both the Monument View site and a planned development of 315 homes directly opposite – a development which is almost certain to be approved after the council declined to defend a planning inquiry into the proposals.

Work will begin in the coming months on 200 homes on Nynehead Road to unlock the site of the town’s proposed railway station – with pedestrian and cycling links which will feed into Route 2 between the town centre and Chelston.

Route 3 is likely to become more of a priority as the £20m regeneration of Tonedale Mill and Tone Works moves forward, with the LCWIP estimating that around 220 homes could be delivered here in the near-future.

In each case, the LCWIP is designed to provide connections between major developments and key services – including:

What is proposed for the Chelston to Wellington route?

Route 2 begins at the Chelston roundabout, which links the B3187 Taunton Road into the town centre with the busy A38 (towards Taunton and the Devon border) and the M5 via the ‘concrete carriageway’ (which is still waiting for a £5m upgrade).

There are small sections of dedicated walking and cycling lanes within the Westpark 26 site which feed into Route 2, which could be extended towards Jurston Fields as part of a mooted development of 75 homes at Little Jurston Farm, put forward by West of England Developments (Taunton) Ltd.

The section of Taunton Road between the Chelston and Nynehead roundabouts is one of the busiest in the town, with 14,798 daily vehicle movements being recorded in 2019).

While this section has a dedicated shared walking and cycle lane, those wishing to continue into the town centre from the Nynehead roundabout have to use narrow on-road cycle lanes – on a route regularly served by buses and HGVs.

The LCWIP said: “Existing infrastructure for cycling is presently disjointed and not to modern standards.

“The section between the Chelston roundabout and Nynehead Road has a shared cycleway/ footway; however, west of Nynehead Road people cycling have to mix with the heavy traffic flows.

“There are a series of roundabouts, which can be difficult to cross for people walking, wheeling and cycling. There are no signal or zebra crossings along the length of Taunton Road.”

To address these issues, the LCWIP recommends the following improvements:

What is planned for the other four routes?

The LCWIP identifies a number of improvements for each of the five designated routes.

For Route 1, the council intends to provide new crossings on Exeter Road and Mantle Street to provide a safer route to the medical centre and Court Fields School.

It also intends to construct a cycle track along the length of this route, implement traffic calming measures and/ or a 20mph speed limit, and explore the possibility of an ancillary route which avoids Rockwell Green Road.

For Route 3, the creation of a demarcated cycle route is more difficult since the road is too narrow, with numerous pinch points and limited pavements.

To get around this, traffic calming measures will be implemented along the route, with a number of key junctions being redesigned to make it easier to reach key facilities.

Timed restrictions for traffic may also be implemented, along the lines of the Frome Safer School Streets scheme, to provide safer journeys around Beech Grove and Courtland Road.

Route 4 improvements will build on the existing route along Lillebonne Way (created as part of the Longforth Farm housing development), with upgrades being focussed on the section leading to the Relyon factory, including improved lighting and new bollards to restrict traffic.

The existing cycle priority lanes on the roundabout linking Lillebonne Way to Taunton Road may also be redesigned to make it safer for walkers and cyclists to reach the Lidl store.

Route 5 (which passes through the “green corridor” separating Rockwell Green and Wellington) will be widened and resurfaced to improve accessibility without urbanising the character of the Basins.

Lower speed limits and parking restrictions could also be implemented on Corams Lane, and low-level lighting could be installed along the route.

Has the council made any other commitments to look at this?

In addition to the LCWIP, the council’s recently published local transport plan identifies “Chelston roundabout safety and active travel improvements” as a top priority alongside the delivery of the town’s new railway station.

The same plan also prioritises the “Wellington town centre crossroads enhancement” (i.e. the junction of Fore Street with North Street and South Street).

A spokesman said: “Wellington is a focus for growth and increasing population will help to support local shops and amenities.

“However, the town centre is centred around a crossroads that is susceptible to relatively high traffic and HGV flows as well as obstructive parking.

“The impact of the new railway station and development opportunities will mean that there will be a chance to look at the wider transport network in and through the town that will provide new sustainable travel opportunities.”

Is there any funding available for this?

The LCWIP does not directly commit funding to any of the five routes – but it will prove instrumental in the coming years to securing grant funding or contributions from developers.

Active Travel England confirmed in November 2024 that the council would receive an additional allocation of £684,781 towards active travel improvements across Somerset, on top of funding previously allocated to deliver ‘missing links’ in Yeovil town centre and enhancing the route along the A39 between Carhampton and Minehead via Dunster.

The council confirmed on Thursday (March 27) that it would be using this money to progress the following improvements:

This latest grant must be committed to delivering schemes by the end of March 2026, and construction work must be finished by March 2027.

The council has been approached for further comment regarding which areas of Wellington it intends to focus upon with this latest grant.

Walking and cycling improvements will also begin to come on stream as part of new housing growth, with Cherwyn Developments delivering new cycle routes to and from the railway station site and a crossing over Taunton Road as part of an approved development of 200 homes on Nynehead Road.

What happens next?

Construction on the Nynehead Road development is expected to begin later in the summer, with the new spine road (including the shared use cycle path) having to be completed before any of the new homes are erected and occupied.

The council will be consulting on any proposed upgrades to the five allocated routes with key stakeholders in the coming months.

The government is expected to announce whether the new railway station (which is estimated to cost £15m) will go ahead in late-June at the conclusion of its spending review.