Three sections of the Celebration Mile (which will eventually run from Bridgwater railway station to the Northgate Docks) are in the late stages of delivery, funded by £9m from the government-backed Bridgwater town deal.
The council has come under fire in recent months over the delivery of the Celebration Mile, with numerous road closures and construction delays putting pressure on local businesses.
Local MP Sir Ashley Fox and Conservative group leader Diogo Rodrigues launched a petition to reverse the one-way system introduced on East Quay and Salmon Parade as part of the project – a petition which led to allegations of hypocrisy, given the design of the Celebration Mile was approved by the Conservative-led Sedgemoor District Council before its abolition in April 2023.
Now the Bridgwater Area Cycling Campaign (BACC) has urged the council to resist making any hasty changes to the scheme, stating that prioritising pedestrians and cyclists will benefit the town centre’s long-term future.
While work is largely complete on the Eastover element of the Celebration Mile, the finishing touches are still being put to the sections on Angel Crescent and Clare Street, with all three sections due to be fully open by early-November.
Colin Gummer, BACC’s communications manager, took to social media on Tuesday (October 21) after Bill Revans, the Liberal Democrat leader of Somerset Council, said he would “look carefully at the scheme” and was “prepared to make any necessary changes”.
Colin Gummer from the Bridgwater Area Cycling Campaign (BACC), pictured in December 2023 (Image: Daniel Mumby)
Mr Gummer said: “Don’t bring back two-way traffic. This new layout favours pedestrians and cyclists – as it should.
“The Celebration Mile has been over a decade in the making. The plans for this new layout were put out for public consultation more than three years ago – where was your petition then?”
BACC has been involved as a consultee on numerous walking and cycling projects delivered in Bridgwater in the last few year – including the path between the Dunball roundabout and the Northgate Docks, via the Express Park and the A39 Western Way.
This path forms part of the purple route within the Bridgwater local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), and will eventually run all the way to the planned gigafactory in Puriton, using the existing footbridge over the M5.
Mr Gummer said that undoing the progress made to date could end up making the town centre unsafe for pedestrians and cyclists, causing fewer people to visit local shops.
He explained: “We take it for granted that Fore Street is a safe place to walk, and that traffic in the High Street is limited. But those were changes that surely faced opposition when executed.
“Would these politicians also like to make Bridgwater’s High Street two-way again? What about Fore Street? Shall we reopen that to cars as well?
“We say: give it time. See how it feels in five or ten years’ time. You never know – it might be quite nice.”
Additional walking and cycling improvements will be delivered at the Northgate Docks as part of the planned £5.2m regeneration scheme, including a new bridge over the Bridgwater and Taunton Canal to link up with the Northgate Yard commercial area.
Dave Chapple, who has lived on Eastover since 1987, said that Messrs. Fox and Rodrigues were “riding what they see as the crest of a populist wave” and disputed that the Celebration Mile changes would lead to drastically longer journeys for motorists.
He said: “It only takes two or thee minutes longer to access Asda via the Cross Rifles roundabout, rather than Salmon Parade.
“Living smack dab in the middle of Eastover, I have seen the massive increase in two-way traffic through the Eastover road itself, and a corresponding decline in driver behaviour.
“I’ve seen parking on pavements, people leaving their mega-SUV’s engines running, showing little or no respect for pedestrians or cyclists, using side streets as a rat run to save themselves the Monmouth Street lights, but above all, clogging up this historic part of Bridgwater up with diesel and petrol fumes.
“Thanks to our new one-way system, we Eastover residents have been relieved.
“I look forward to many years of Eastover pedestrians, cyclists and car drivers, shopping happily and safely, and occasionally sitting down on one of the new benches to talk to one another without having to shout.”