Town council add support to A36 appeal

WESTBURY Town Council has voiced their support for an appeal against a weight restriction along the A36 in Bath.

The weight restriction, planned by Bath and North East Somerset Council (BANES), could direct extra heavy traffic through Westbury. Wiltshire Council, Somerset County Council, and the Highways Agency have lodged an appeal against the weight limit with the Secretary of State. Westbury Town Council will now write in support of the appeal.

An 18-tonne environmental weight restriction along the A36 in Bath would mean that heavy goods vehicles travelling along the current route from the north of Bath and the M4 would be unable to continue their journey south out of Bath along the A36. There are fears that such a restriction will cause heavy goods vehicles to take a route out of Bath through Staverton, Trowbridge, Yarnbrook, and Westbury, before rejoining the A36 outside of Warminster.

BANES say that the weight limit is necessary to tackle “a serious environmental issue in the city of Bath,” and say that residents in the city are “concerned about the contribution made by HGVs to poor air quality, road safety issues and intimidation experienced by vulnerable road users within the Bath World Heritage Site.” The weight limit was due to be implemented in March, but was delayed to allow a monitoring scheme to be put in place. BANES plan to introduce the limit as an experimental traffic regulation order, which they say will allow the impact of the proposed weight restriction on alternative routes to be monitored before making a permanent decision.