EFFORTS to complete the traffic-free Somerset Circle route are moving forward through new schemes in Frome and Shepton Mallet.

Mendip District Council has been working with Greenways and Cycle Routes (GW&CR) to restore 14 ‘missing link’ routes across the district, allowing pedestrians and cyclists to travel around the district more easily for school, work or leisure.

Having agreed on the list of routes in June 2020, the council has been prioritising sections which would help to complete the Somerset Circle – a traffic-free route which will eventually connect the Mendip district with Bristol and Bath.

Plans have now been put forward for one of these routes, using disused viaducts to link Shepton Mallet with the villages to the north of the town.

This comes as the council agreed to grant £30,000 towards the next phase of one of Frome’s ‘missing links’, which will also connect up with the Somerset Circle to the north of the town.

When completed, the Somerset Circle will provide a 76-mile traffic-free circuit which would link the north Somerset coast (including Weston-super-Mare and Clevedon), Bristol, Bath, the Mendip Hills and Cheddar.

The circle is currently around two-thirds completed, with around 50 miles linked up, and most of the outstanding sections lie in either Mendip or the neighbouring Sedgemoor district.

Out of the 14 routes identified in June 2020, the council is currently prioritising the delivery of those which will aid the circle’s completion.

These include the stretch between Wells and Cheddar (via Westbury-sub-Mendip, avoiding the A371), the section between Glastonbury and Wells (avoiding the busy A39) and the route between Shepton Mallet and Wells – which was recently extended as far as the Charlie Bingham factory at Dulcote Quarry.

A spokesman said: “GW&CR has carried out extensive preliminary research along these routes, and while we have aspirations to deliver all 14 routes, these are the priority routes,  due to feasibility and likelihood for delivery.”

The final section of the Somerset Circle within Mendip lies between Shepton Mallet and Midsomer Norton, following the route of the former Somerset and Dorset Joint Railway line, which closed as part of the infamous Beeching cuts in the mid-1960s.

Somerset County Gazette: Bath Road Viaduct Over The B3136 Bath Road In Shepton Mallet. CREDIT: Greenways & Cycle Routes. Free to use for all BBC wire partners.

Plans have been put forward by GW&CR – working with the Friends of Windsor Hill Tunnel and Shepton Mallet Town Council – to create an active travel route between the A37 Kilver Street Hill and Ham Lane to the north.

The route will carry pedestrians and cyclists west of the A37 (loosely following a stretch of the East Mendip Way), over the B3136 Bath Road using the existing viaduct, and through a 120-metre tunnel before finishing near the Ham Wood Viaduct.

A spokesman for GW&CR said: “We hope that in the future this section could be extended to include Charlton Viaduct with its 27 arches, to reach the east end of Shepton Mallet, and then perhaps also to extend up to Thrupe Lane for a route to Maesbury and the summit of the Mendips.

“Whether this Ham Wood Viaduct to Shepton route remains as an isolated promenade, or whether it becomes the heart of the Somerset Circle, this will be a wonderfully popular local asset which will do much to encourage active travel and a wide appreciation of the landscape of the Mendips in this area.”

Councillor Chris Inchley (who represents the Shepton West ward) has been pushing for greater cycling provision in and around the town for many years – including a new route near the town’s football club, where new social housing could be built.

He said: “This is really an exciting development and has made good progress since the cabinet’s approval of multi-user paths.

“Shepton Mallet town councillor Gavin Mayall has led the clearance of the track bed around the Windsor Tunnels.

“This application is a tangible result of work done by the district council, its consultant and local people, and I look forward to the continuing progress for safe, sustainable transport across our district and county.”

In addition to the Shepton Mallet plans – which could be approved in a matter of weeks – the council has also sought to push forward with new cycle routes in Frome, working closely with Frome’s Missing Links (FML).

The group was awarded £30,000 from the council’s community fund in early-January to construct the next phase of a traffic-free multi-user path between Whatcombe Fields and Great Elm at the northern edge of the town.

FML trustee Ruth Knagg said: “When completed this will be a safe travel route for cyclists, walkers and riders, enabling them to avoid a dangerous and hilly stretch of busy roads.

“The volunteer group have been making gradual progress from either end of the route, and this significant award from the communities fund will be an enormous help to come closer to joining up.”

The council had been progressing three separate missing links identified in June 2020 – two which would have linked Frome and Shepton Mallet via Wanstrow, and a separate path between Frome and Bath (provided Bath and North East Somerset Council had co-operated).

The council said that active travel routes would be delivered more rapidly in the short-term by directing supporting FML than through its original proposals – though it would pursue all three projects in the future.

A spokesman said: “Moving forward we identified that we would support the delivery of FML, as given resources and time-frames we could deliver more than starting afresh with these three schemes.

“FML is managing the delivery of the entire route; the group is well-versed, well-resourced and has planning permission for the majority of the route.

“We are supporting financially where possible and with negotiations with Network Rail, which is the support they wanted.”