Bridgwater Celebration Mile set to stay unchanged as council says alterations won’t ease congestion
Somerset Council highways officers are recommending no major changes to the controversial £9m Bridgwater scheme, arguing that none of the proposed options would significantly reduce traffic delays across the town centre
Somerset Council’s highways officers are recommending that no significant changes be made to the Celebration Mile in Bridgwater, because none of the proposed changes would cut traffic in and around the town centre.
Three sections of the Celebration Mile (which will eventually run from Bridgwater railway station to the Northgate Docks) have been implemented using £9m from the government-backed Bridgwater town deal, including one-way systems along Eastover, East Quay and Salmon Parade.
These changes, coupled with the cancellation of upgrades to the Cross Rifles roundabout, have led to increased congestion on Bridgwater’s road network, generating considerable anger among residents and businesses.
Following a petition signed by more than 5,800 local people, the full council voted in December 2025 to carry out a full review of the scheme, including detailed monitoring of traffic levels in the area.
The council has already restored some parking spaces on Salmon Parade, with a full report into the review being published before its executive committee meets in Taunton on Wednesday (June 3).
This report outlines four options for changes to the Celebration Mile, ranging from retaining the existing layout but with additional parking to restoring two-way traffic on both East Quay and Salmon Parade.
The council’s highways team is recommending that no changes be made to avoid increased congestion in the town centre – though councillors will make the final decision.
The four options laid before the executive are as follows:
Retain the one-way system in its current form and introduce additional parking: the council has not specified where new parking could be introduced, or how many spaces would be provided
Reverse the direction of traffic on Salmon Parade (i.e. making it southbound only) while retaining East Quay in its current form: this would deliver “some improvements” for traffic on the A38 Broadway and Monmouth Street, but would also lead to additional traffic in the town centre at peak times and remove the cycle link from the railway station via Cranleigh Gardens
Restore two-way traffic on both East Quay and Salmon Parade: this performs “most strongly” in terms of traffic flow but “fundamentally conflicts with the scheme objectives by increasing vehicle dominance in the area”, putting pedestrians and cyclists at greater risk
Have one-way traffic southbound on both East Quay and Salmon Parade: this option “performs poorly” on modelling and “provides no meaningful uplift to justify further consideration”
Mike O’Dowd-Jones, the council’s service director for infrastructure and
transport, said that any of these options were “likely to be achievable within existing Celebration Mile budget allocations” – meaning taxpayers would not have to shell out additional funding to make any changes.
He warned, however, that making any changes would not necessarily ease congestion in Bridgwater town centre.
He said: “Our journey time monitoring analysis concludes that the current Celebration Mile scheme is not causing acute traffic congestion in Bridgwater.
“There have been times since its opening when delays have been experienced on certain routes, but these are time-limited and likely linked to specific issues on the network causing disruption.
“As an example, on the A38 Broadway – which is widely cited as a route of concern by communities – the maximum delay experienced was 12 minutes, with the top 20 delays over the five-month monitoring period ranging from seven to 12 minutes.
“None of the options deliver a significant reduction in traffic delay across
the Bridgwater network as a whole.”
The Bridgwater town deal board will consider the options on Monday (June 1) and will give its recommendation to the council’s executive committee ahead of its meeting on Wednesday (June 3) in Taunton at 10am.