COMMUTER and school run traffic to and from Wellington was on Monday morning (June 16) facing the first day of a three-month closure of the M5 motorway junction 26.

Most traffic was being forced to use the A38 to reach Taunton rather than travelling via the motorway and junction 25, or to drive in the opposite direction toward Tiverton and double back from junction 27.

National Highways closed off Junction 26 on Sunday night for the start of a resurfacing project which Somerset Council said would take 14 weeks to compete by mid-September.

The council is using a £5.7 million Government grant to replace the deteriorating 51-year-old concrete surface on the 470-yard motorway junction roundabout and also on the link road to Chelston.

It will allow one-way traffic to use the link road to access the Foxmoor Business Park while the work is underway, but the motorway roundabout will be fully closed for the duration of the project.

Protests by Wellington Town Council and local businesses were waved aside, with the unitary council saying the work could not be carried out any quicker.

Residents have expressed their fears on social media of the ‘carnage’ they predict drivers will experience on the A38 during the work.

The unitary council said it was aware of concerns around the Bradford on Tone-West Buckland crossroads by the World’s End public house and calls for temporary traffic lights to be used.

A spokesperson said: “Temporary lights would likely cause greater congestion, as experienced recently following the construction of the right-turn lane at Blackdown Garden Centre.

“We will be monitoring this junction and will take action to put in place temporary traffic measures if required.”

Somerset executive Cllr Richard Wilkins said: “We do understand people have very real concerns about the road closure and there is no doubt this will be a very challenging scheme to deliver.

“When completed we will have a new, smoother, quieter road surface with better drainage, so please bear with us and plan your journey carefully while work is underway.”

National Highways route manager Jonny Hill said: “We will remain engaged with the council throughout the works and monitor disruption on the strategic road network.”

A Travel Somerset spokesperson said: “Doing nothing would mean ongoing patching, more delays, and higher long-term costs.

“Our contractor Heidelberg Materials will carry out the works.”

Heidelberg is using an innovative technique known as ‘rubblization’ to break up the existing concrete road surface using heavy machinery.

The 7,300 tonnes of concrete will be recycled for use as sub-base for the new road instead of being removed, which the company said would save about 1,130 lorry movements and 200 tonnes of carbon emissions compared to traditional road construction methods.

A spokesperson said: “This is better for the environment, but it also means the work will be completed faster, minimising disruption as much as possible.”

However, the same technique could not be used on the junction 26 roundabout because the machinery could not be operated under its overhead bridges.

The roundabout will need to be excavated to a depth of more than three feet before a new road sub-base and surface can be built up.

BBC Radio Somerset is producing a live broadcast of its Monday morning breakfast show from Wellington’s House of Cake, in High Street, with one of its team reporting in real time from Chelston roundabout on the traffic situation.