THE 30-year-old traffic lights at Dunster Steep could have been replaced at a fraction of the estimated £600,000 cost and avoided the current delays and five-mile traffic tailbacks, without needing to dig up the A39, an independent traffic monitoring group claimed this week.

In a Freedom of Information (FoI) request from Mineheadtraffic.co.uk, Somerset Council was asked if the engineering design team which produced the current scheme had considered using the existing A39 pedestrian underpass, which the council owns, as a ready-made cable route in order to replace traffic signals without excavating the carriageway.

In a statement to the council, Mineheadtraffic, which monitors the daily Dunster hold-ups for around 800 browsers, said: “If combined with three sets of gantry-mounted signals, one at each approach, it appears that the entire junction signals could have been replaced without excavating the main road.

“It is hard to see how a subway routing approach would not have been significantly cheaper and quicker than the current arrangement.”

The council replied: “The construction methodologies and associated programme durations were chosen by the tendering contractors and the contract was awarded to the most economically advantageous tender assessed on the basis of price, programme, and quality.”

Another FOI request has revealed that the estimated cost of the work will be £599,000.

A Mineheadtraffic spokesperson told the Free Press: “Somerset Council’s FoI response confirms that no options appraisal, no feasibility study, and no cost comparison was ever produced.

“Nobody appears to have asked the question before committing to open-cut excavation across the whole junction.

“The scheme, as executed, has involved extensive carriageway excavations and prolonged traffic disruption.

“We appreciate that the works are well underway and none of this can be revisited now.

“But understanding why this approach was not taken feels important, both for this community and for future schemes.”

Public liaison officer Syed Shah said in response: “I will ensure that your query is noted and passed to the project team for awareness.

“But it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on technical design matters and I hope you will appreciate that the design team have done what they needed to do and it is now the focus of our team to concentrate their time and effort on completing the task in hand.

“My priority remains supporting the community through the current works and ensuring people have timely and accurate information as the scheme progresses.”

When the monitoring group offered to supply the council with a daily feedback on the current traffic hold-ups, Mr Shah said: “Inviting feedback where there is no realistic scope to make changes risks creating frustration and misunderstandings within our community rather than resolving concerns.”

The Mineheadtraffic spokesperson said: “The picture is that the council cannot explain why the Dunster Steep project needs four months to complete, will not answer FOI requests asking them to justify it, and does not want to receive structured evidence of the impact it is having on residents.”