Villagers at Limpley Stoke concerned about traffic issues on the A36 have been warned by National Highways that it needs to make improvements where they are most needed.

Sean Walsh, National Highways’ route manager, told a packed meeting at Limpley Stoke Village Hall on Thursday there was ‘good news’ on some elements of their complaints.

But he said the government agency needed to make improvements where they were “most needed” in areas with high numbers of serious accidents and fatalities.

He said: “There is finite budgets and they have to be applied where people are being hurt, not where they might be hurt. People are being hurt in places and that is where you have to put your attention.”

Chippenham MP Michelle Donelan chaired the meeting after picking up residents’ concerns from emails and from face-to-face surgeries.

Local Wiltshire ward councillor Johnny Kidney and Rebecca Edmond, National Highways’ head of planning and development, also attended.

Residents called for the speed limit to be cut from 40mph to 30mph to stop drivers speeding between Brassknocker Hill and the Church Lane/Midford Lane junctions.

They also complained about queuing on the A36 at the Brassknocker Hill junction, where there is no room for filter lanes allowing drivers to turn right and other traffic to pass by.

They also want a 20mph speed limit at the Church Lane/Midford Lane junctions where there is no safe crossing for pedestrians and cyclists over the strategic route between Bath and Warminster.

Miss Donelan asked National Highways to provide details on where the A36 at Limpley Stoke stands on the priority list, and the criteria it uses to determine how soon action is taken.

Mr Walsh said National Highways would commission a study on potential improvements at the Brassknocker Hill junction that could take three years to materialise.

Residents also want:

  • Traffic speed management on the Middle Stoke stretch, including reducing the road width to deter drivers speeding between bends.
  • Village ‘gates’ at the Church Lane and Middle Stoke entrances. Plans have already been agreed for further gates on Midford Lane and Lower Stoke out towards the Dundas Viaduct.
  • National Highways to move the 40mph repeater sign at the Middle Stoke junction to concentrate drivers’ attention on the 20mph signs.
  • Permanent bollards at the top of the Woods Hill entrance, which is now closed to traffic.
  • National Highways to remove signs and other debris at the Middle Stoke entrance.