A NEW road layout expected to be completed by next summer will enable buses to pick up passengers from Taunton Station.

Work is due to start at the end of January on the scheme to link the proposed Firepool development and the station's multi-storey car park to the town's road network.

Somerset County Council, Somerset West and Taunton Council, Great Western Railway and Network Rail are working together on the project.

The county has now awarded the contract to Milestone for the work to create a crossroads forming the main access to the car park and enabling buses to collect rail passengers directly from the station, as well as providing the man access route onto the Firepool site. It is hoped the project will be completed in about five months.

Funding is coming from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership, Department for Transport, and Somerset County and Somerset West and Taunton (SWT) Councils.

Cllr Mike Rigby, County Hall lead member for transport and digital, and SWT executive member for planning and transport, said: “Accessibility for cyclists, pedestrians, vehicles and public transport is central to the Firepool development which will boost jobs and investment in Taunton, whilst ensuring people have a proper choice to use alternative, greener means of transport to support our climate change objectives for Somerset.

“Ultimately, the cycling infrastructure will link with a dedicated route for cyclists into the town centre reflecting our connectivity ambitions embedded in Taunton’s Garden Town status.”