CALLS have been made for Somerset County Council to re-think plans to close various sections of the A39 between Williton and Dodington from 7pm to 7am over a five-week period. Bridgwater and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell- Grainger said the work would clash with Easter school holidays, while a 7pm closure would hit hundreds of people as it was too early in the evening. The authority is planning to close four sections of the A39 on different dates for major resurfacing works from March 23 to April 28 with a short suspension over the Easter weekend. The first section to be closed will be from West Quantoxhead to Townsend from March 23 to April 3. The road between Holford and Castle Comfort will shut "overnight" for ten days from April 3 to 11, while the centre of Kilve will be closed from April 11 to 12. The final section to be resurfaced will be from the Rydon landfill site to the nursery bridge in Williton between April 26 to 28. But although local car drivers will probably negotiate the closures using country lane shortcuts, visitors and larger vehicles are being advised to visit West Somerset via Taunton. Mr Liddell-Grainger said the timing of the closures could not have been worse. He said: "Why has the county council chosen to do this work now when the schools will be on holiday and tourists will be heading to West Somerset, Exmoor and Butlins? "This has simply not been thought through. A 7pm to 7am closure is hardly overnight as many people will still be on their way home from work at that time in the evening. "There has been no proper consultation with anybody on this and it seems the county is yet again doing what it does best - steamrollering over local people as if they don't matter. They should be ashamed." A spokesman for the county council said the closures had been advertised in the Free Press and parish councils had been notified of the work. She said the closures would be staggered, while each shut section being "manned at each end" to ensure drivers were given clear information on how to complete their journeys with the minimum disruption. The public notice printed in last week's Free Press advertised a temporary closure of some seven and a half miles of the A39 from 58 Long Street, Williton, to Keepers Cottage, Dodington, from March 20 for six weeks.
