Adam Dance, MP for Yeovil and South Somerset, said he is relieved about the news of the cancellation of the proposed scheme to dual the A358 Ilminster to Taunton road.

The project was too extensive and too expensive and would have been tied up in the planning process for several years, Dance said.

Last week, the government decided to drop a major scheme to dual one of the Somerset’s key “transport arteries” in a Budget announcement.

The proposed dualling of the A358 between Ilminster and Taunton has officially been cancelled as an "unfunded and unaffordable road scheme(s) on the strategic road network."

"Now is the time to reconsider what is needed to help the A358 run more smoothly,” Dance said.

Dance is currently urging Somerset Council and the government to look at smaller scale changes which deal with the particular pinch points, and which can be implemented much more speedily and at much lower cost. 

Such changes should include a bypass at Henlade and changes to the A303 junction at the Southfields roundabout, he urged. The Ilminster bypass should also be made safer.

"I believe these projects would be much easier to design and speedier to implement, but, as these road improvements are part of the Strategic Road Network, Somerset Council, in conjunction with Highways England, will need the support of central government for the implementation," he said.

Dance is also pushing for improvements in transport services for those without easy access to car travel, in particular for rural bus services and the local rail network.