THE Colley Lane Southern Access Road in Bridgwater is nearing completion – now we need your help to give it a better name.

Construction of the not-so-snappily-titled CLSAR by contractors Whitemountain will be completed this autumn and provide a much-needed link between Marsh Lane and Parrett Way.

The hope is this will ease congestion along Taunton Road and Broadway as well as opening up brownfield land for development.

As the project comes to an end, the public are being asked to help choose a new, permanent name for the road.

Councillor John Woodman, Somerset County Council’s cabinet member for Highways, said: “This new road is for the people of Bridgwater, so we wanted to give them the chance to be involved with naming it.

“Clearly we need to give this hugely-important link a better name than CLSAR. We’re looking for original ideas to celebrate this – Roady McRoadface is just not going to cut it.

“So please get your thinking caps on and send in your suggestions.

“This is your chance to play a part in naming a piece of Bridgwater’s history.”

For inspiration, here is some information about the new relief road.

The £18.4m Colley Lane Southern Access Road (CLSAR) will be 840 metres long and provide access to the Colley Lane Industrial Estate by connecting Parrett Way to Marsh Lane.

The road includes two new bridges – the Crossways Bridge over the Bridgwater & Taunton Canal and the Somerset Bridge over the River Parrett which at 52 metres long is the longest single span bridge in Somerset.

It’s on the site of a former brick works and uses some innovative engineering solutions to overcome poor ground conditions – including the use of high density polystyrene blocks to keep the weight down.

The site has links with the Colthurst, Symons Co. Ltd brickmaking business which started in the mid-1800s.

William Symons is credited with the design of the Double Roman pantile which became the most recognisable roofing product of all the Sedgemoor tile manufacturers.

Its production continued until the decline of the brick and tile industry in the the post-war years.

The works continued in operation until the early 1960s, and substantial remains of it were found in 2017 during preparatory work for the Colley Lane Southern Access Road.

Or perhaps you might be inspired by another area of Bridgwater’s rich history, its people, its traditions and landmarks, or the world-famous Carnival?

All suggestions received will be carefully considered by a panel of Somerset County Council, Sedgemoor District Council, Bridgwater Town Council, North Petherton Town Council and the Bridgwater Mercury.

There are certain criteria which must be met – including that the name is not already taken or easily confused with other addresses.

Roads cannot be deemed as advertising and should not relate to any living individual.

A shortlist of suitable nominations will then be published and the public will be given chance to vote for their favourite which will then be adopted before the road opens.

You can take part by tweeting @TravelSomerset on Twitter, via Somerset County Council’s Facebook page, by emailing communications@somerset.gov.uk or post your suggestion to CLSAR road naming, Communications, Somerset County Council, B3E County Hall, Taunton TA1 4DY.

Please remember to provide a brief explanation of your reasoning behind the name if needed.

The deadline for nominations is 5pm on Monday, July 22.

For more information about progress with the road’s construction visit www.clsar.co.uk.