WESTBURY will not be getting a bypass – or any major improvements to the A350 – until 2025 at the earliest.
Wiltshire Council has said that it intends to bid for funds to make ‘improvements’ to the A350 in Westbury – but the scheme will fall into a round of government funding, which doesn’t begin until 2025.
The news has angered local people, fed up with long delays and chronic air pollution caused by the sheer volume of traffic through the town.
And to add insult to injury, Wiltshire Council has announced that it has received Government funding for two other major road schemes in the county: a new – and second – bypass for Melksham and for improvements for the A338 in Salisbury.
White Horse News broke the news to readers on Facebook of Melksham’s successful funding while any ‘improvements’ to Westbury’s A350 route would have to wait at least five years.
One resident said, “How about the Westbury bypass considering the pledge on environmental improvements in Westbury such as air quality? You wouldn‘t think that we live in a beautiful countryside here. Almost as bad as central London.”
Another said, “ I can’t help but be cynical about the announcement. A350 improvements in/around Westbury have been needed for decades. I hope that, for Westbury’s sake, my cynicism is unfounded, time will tell.”
In response to the news of Melksham receiving funding, one resident said, “I feel that Melksham has had a good deal of road improvements in the past. Just drive around Melksham and it is self evident. Whilst Westbury has been prone to new development, the main infrastructure has not changed. 2025 is really shocking.”
Back in the early 1990s, a Westbury bypass was Wiltshire Council’s number one road project in the county. Since then, Hilperton, Semington and Chippenham has all seen bypasses built and now a second one is planned for Melksham, while Westbury has missed out.
Wiltshire councillor Russell Hawker commented, providing some further insight into the future of a Westbury bypass.
He said, “Confirmation of the Melksham eastern bypass funding means that a substantive bid for funding the Westbury bypass can begin in 2025. It also means that the redesign project to prepare for that bid will start in 2022. This preliminary design stage starting in two years will involve reanalysing every possible route to find the most suitable and effective bypass that can be both funded and given planning permission.”
