Main road through Banwell closed this weekend

Essential carriageway and drainage maintenance works are due to be carried out on two routes in Banwell this weekend.

The A371 and A368 roads through Banwell will be closed for two days from 8am on Saturday September 4, with the roads re-opening no later than 6pm the following day.

The sections closed will be from the junction of Wolvershill Road and West Street, through to the junction of Castle Hill and The Rhodyate, as well as from the junction of East Street and Dark Lane, through to the junction of East Street and West Street.

These roads are being closed because they are narrow and it would be unsafe to carry out the works with passing traffic. The work being carried out includes carriageway patching; drain cleansing (throughout the entire closure); replacement and repair of manholes covers; re-lining from Wolvershill Road to the car park; replacement of the zebra crossing lights, and other street-lighting works; cutting back vegetation along Castle Hill; sweeping of all the roads; and utility work by Western Power at the top end of Castle Hill.

"Although we know these works will cause some inconvenience, we have planned it so that a wide range of maintenance work takes place in a short period of time," said Cllr Elfan Ap Rees, North Somerset Council's executive member for highways. "To minimise disruption the work has been scheduled for a weekend when our surveys show traffic flows are considerably lower than during the week. We have already put up signs advising when this work will take place and the diversion route will be well signposted."

Residents living within the boundaries of the road closure will be allowed access to their properties during the works, but it will be necessary to keep movements through the working area to a minimum on the grounds of safety.

The main diversion route will be back along the A371 to the A370, across to the B3133 Stock Lane, down the A38, and either back along the A368 or A371, depending on the user's destination. The cost of the works is in the region of £10,000.