Somerset County Council is welcoming a Government award of almost £5m for urgently needed structural repairs to a key road junction near Wellington.
The funding was announced by the Department for Transport as part of a £100m nationwide package to improve road quality, following a bid submitted by the Council earlier in the year
Somerset will get £4.7m to tackle the M5 Junction 26 and A38 Chelston Link near Wellington where structural repairs are needed to the carriageway and drainage which are now 45 years old.
Some of the concrete slabs are cracking and rocking and the road also suffers from occasional flooding. The grant will help the Council undertake the much-needed work.
Councillor John Woodman, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, said: “This funding is warmly welcomed. Junction 26 and the Chelston Link road provide important connections for the Taunton, Wellington and West Somerset areas to the M5 strategic road network.”
The design will use the recycled concrete pavement as sub-base material, reducing the demand on quarried aggregates. Drainage will be replaced, with ditch systems re-cut.