CLAIMS that problems will ease off at a recently altered road junction in Bridgwater have been citicised this week.

Cllr Harvey Siggs, the county council’s cabinet member for highways, has responded to frustrated councillors and Bridgwater’s mayor, who say the changes to the junction are so confusing there could be a serious accident.

Drivers heading along Penel Orlieu towards the Broadway/ North Street junction who are planning to cross the road into West Street must now move into the right-hand lane.

The Mercury has already reported concerns over several nearmisses caused by drivers using the left-hand lane from habit and then trying to switch at the last minute.

However Cllr Harvey Siggs said he believed the teething problems would settle down after a three month period.

The fair’s visit to the town in the next few weeks means other amendments will be made to accommodate large lorries.

Cllr Gill Slocombe has been involved in talks with Somerset County Council to thrash out a solution so the large lorries bringing in fair rides can get through the area near Penel Orlieu more easily.

She said: “As a result they intend to put removable bollards at the end of West Street and slightly reduce the size of the centre area.

This will be considerably safer for the drivers of large vehicles and for pedestrians. There has been a lot of discussions but it just goes to prove that by sitting down together some improvements can be achieved.”

In an email to councillors, Cllr Sigg has explained some of the reasons behind the controversial changes at Penel Orlieu.

He said: “Within the early stages of the design process a number of options were developed in order to improve capacity at the junction whilst also providing controlled pedestrian/cycle crossing facilities.

“Through data obtained from traffic surveys, the previous lane allocation on Penel Orlieu was unbalanced with significantly more vehicles in the nearside lane performing the ahead and left movements than in the right lane.

“Under the new lane arrangement the traffic flows will be more balanced with a ratio of 43:57.

This effectively means that more traffic can pass through the junction and therefore capacity is improved.

“I trust that once the junction and a three-month ‘settling in period’ are complete you will see an improvement.”

Bridgwater Mayor Steve Austen said: “It is always of great concern when ‘the average person in the street’ can see that this has been a monumental step backwards with increased traffic delays but the ‘professionals‘ are unable to accept they have got it wrong. Is there a guarantee that once the threemonth settling in period is completed that changes will be undertaken to restore a junction that was not broke and did not need fixing?”