A LOCAL Parish Council has issued shared how they feel the A358 upgrades between Taunton and Southfields will improve people's way of life in the area.

Representative of the Ruishton and Thornfalcon Parish Council, Doug Lowe said: "Henlade or Ruishton and Thornfalcon is a village that is very close to Taunton, about a mile away. It has to cope with the A358 and the air quality which is probably the worst in Somerset.

"Here, you haven’t got quality of life because you’re always worried about trying to cross the road or go somewhere. You look at the traffic here, I mean, it’s non-stop."

Currently an 8.5 mile section of the A358 between Southfields Roundabout on the A303 and the M5 at Taunton is set to become a dual carriageway through upgrade works.

Lowe added: "We just need this bypass. This A358 scheme would give us so many benefits. It’s just unbelievable. We’d have better air quality, better quality of life.

"We need a bypass here now."

Katherine Liddington, senior project manager for the A358 scheme, said: “We plan to upgrade approximately 8.5 miles of the A358 to a new high-quality and high-performing dual carriageway, which will reduce congestion, enhance safety and improve connectivity for road users and local communities, while unlocking economic growth in Somerset and beyond.

On the National Highways website, it states that: "Currently most of the A358 is a single lane and has many local roads and private accesses joining directly with it. It’s often congested and is a source of frustration for local people, and those using the road to travel longer distances.

"Many road users try to avoid the traffic congestion by diverting onto smaller local roads, which then increases the level of traffic in surrounding villages."

"To address this, we’re proposing to upgrade an 8.5 mile section of the A358 between Southfields Roundabout on the A303 and the M5 at Taunton, to a high quality dual carriageway."

The A358 Taunton to Southfields Dualling scheme is classified as a ‘Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project’ defined under the Planning Act 2008.