Work to improve safety on a road in Somerset where five people have died in the last five years has begun. Somerset Council is installing measures on the A361 Frome bypass, including reducing the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph and 40mph on the A362 approach.

Frome and East Somerset Lib Dem MP Anna Sabine told the BBC:

“For the sake of slightly slowing down one’s journey to not risk people’s lives it’s definitely worth it.”

The MP said while the changes were “a good first step”, she also wanted to see further safety measures such as roundabout or traffic lights at the A362 junction.

“The evidence shows that reducing speed limits does improve safety and I would urge people to heed that,” said Sabine. I wish that some of these people had, as I have done, met the families of people who have lost relatives either at that junction or elsewhere: it does devastate lives, none of us would want that happening to us,” she added.

Along with the reduction in speed limit, the junction with the A362 will also be resurfaced, with hatching installed along the centre of the bypass.

Nick Cowling, service manager for road safety at Somerset Council, said the central hatching would “help people keep to the speed limit and reduce the risk of vehicles having head-on collisions”.

It comes after Acusensus AI cameras were positioned on the bypass last year by Avon and Somerset Police to detect poor driving such as drivers using mobile phones, not wearing seatbelts and speeding.

The cameras logged 4,500 offences in their first four months of operation, according to Somerset Council.

“It’s not just about engineering, we work with the police on enforcement – it’s a combined approach with engineering, education [and] enforcement to change behaviour and try to make the road safer,” said Cowling.

(Picture: Mapillary)