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![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_The-Edithmead-Roundabout-Seen-From-The-A38-Bristol-Road-In-Highbridge-Daniel-Mumby-270224-2.jpg\")
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The Edithmead roundabout seen from the A38 Bristol Road in Highbridge(Image: Daniel Mumby)<\/p>\n
The start date for a year-long, multi-million-pound upgrade of a key Somerset<\/a> roundabout near the M5<\/a> has finally been confirmed.<\/p>\n Somerset Council has been working with North Somerset Council on a range of schemes to improve the A38 between the M5 and Bristol Airport, in a bid to shorten journey times, cut congestion and improve road safety.<\/p>\n Somerset Council confirmed in late-July that the proposed upgrade of the Edithmead roundabout (which links Burnham-on-Sea<\/a> and Highbridge<\/a> to junction 22 of the motorway) would be carried out by Centregreat, the same company responsible for the \u00a310.7m Dunball roundabout improvement scheme which finished in November 2025.<\/a><\/p>\n The council has now confirmed that work on the Edithmead roundabout will officially begin shortly after Christmas, with motorists enduring a whole year of roadworks while these and other improvements are carried out.<\/p>\n The roundabout is part of the main route for Bristol Airport holidaymakers travelling from Devon and further south up to Somerset, with the airport itself directing people to “leave the M5 at junction 22 and follow signs for A38”. Meanwhile people travelling down from Bristol or beyond tend to use junction 18.<\/p>\n Detailed designs of the improvement scheme and the construction date were included in papers published ahead of a meeting of the council’s executive committee on September 2.<\/p>\n The council proposed to turn the roundabout into a signalised ‘throughabout’, allowing traffic from the M5 to move more easily onto the northbound A38 Bristol Road towards Cheddar and Weston-super-Mare.<\/p>\n To this end, a ‘through’ route with two lanes will be constructed through the middle of the roundabout, providing a shorter route off the M5 for northbound traffic and thereby cutting the risk of tailbacks onto the existing slip-road.<\/p>\n The entire roundabout will be widened, with additional lanes being created on the approaches from the M5, the A38 Bristol Road and the B3140.<\/p>\n New pedestrian and cycling links will be created on the western side of the roundabout, providing a safer active travel route for people approaching from either end of Bristol Road.<\/p>\n To protect the roundabout from flooding, an attenuation basis will be created in the centre, along with enhancements to the Brent Broad Rhyne and other local waterways.<\/p>\n Josephine Paterson, a senior officer within the council’s infrastructure and transport commissioning team, stated in her written report: “The scheme is designed to improve road safety, journey time reliability, active travel connectivity and network resilience along the A38 corridor, while supporting planned housing and employment growth and addressing impacts on the strategic road network.<\/p>\n “Delivery of the scheme avoids the risk of future unfunded intervention requirements arising from National Highways’ growth and network capacity expectations, and ensures that the council maximises the opportunity presented by the current DfT funding programme.”<\/p>\n The Edithmead roundabout seen from the A38 Bristol Road in Highbridge(Image: Daniel Mumby)<\/p>\n The Edithmead roundabout is one of four schemes which will be implemented within the Somerset Council area \u2013 the others being:<\/p>\n![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/0_The-Edithmead-Roundabout-Seen-From-The-A38-Bristol-Road-In-Highbridge-Daniel-Mumby-270224-1.jpg\")
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