£5m investment to smarten up Somerset’s roads

A £5 million programme to smarten up our county’s roads, pavements and cycleways was given the green light yesterday (Wednesday).

Somerset Council’s Executive approved the first £2 million for 2026-27 to get the programme running this month.

It says current road maintenance programmes prioritise safety critical works which can mean lower-level issues are left unresolved, often for many years.

The new spending proposals will deliver a range of visible improvements including:

• Clearing more drains and gullies.
• Fixing and cleaning road signs.
• Repainting faded road markings.
• Collecting litter.
• Clearing overgrown vegetation, particularly on walking and cycling routes.

Improvements will also be made to the council’s public reporting system, to make it even easier for residents to highlight any issues on the roads.

The work will be carried out by one of the council’s current highways contractors, Kier, which will deal with signing, lining and gully clearance, as well as the council’s own Open Spaces Team, which will tackle overgrown vegetation and other tidying work alongside collecting litter.

The enhanced gully emptying will see a one-year intensive clearance in areas vulnerable to a one in 100-year flood events – adding up to about 65,000 extra gullies during the current year.

The £5 million maintenance programme will run for three years with the aim of making a visible difference to communities from the start.

Cllr Richard Wilkins, the council’s Lead Member for Transport and Waste Services said: “We listen to our communities when it comes to things they say are important.

“Yes, urgent, safety critical maintenance of roads is paramount, and that will of course remain a key focus.

“But what we have heard time and time again is those less safety critical issues – dirty, damaged signs, cycleways and pathways that are continually overgrown, faded road markings.

“These are the things that frustrate people when they are left neglected.”