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The refreshed layout sets out to help ease congestion on a main route in and out of the town. North Somerset Council is currently working to an autumn 2025 start for the works, running through until spring 2026.
The scheme will allow the junctions to work more efficiently and effectively for all traffic, while creating the modern infrastructure needed to enhance current and future bus services.
Under the planned changes, the two traffic light-controlled junctions between the Queensway and Walford Avenue, and Bristol Road and the B3440, would be converted into two connected roundabouts. This would allow the junctions to function more fluidly, supporting a higher volume of traffic.
Small changes are also planned for two roundabouts on New Bristol Road, to improve traffic flow – the Victory (at the entrance to the Sainsbury’s trading estate), and by the Summerhouse pub.
The nearby B3440 slip-roads, which connect the A370 to M5 junction 21, would also be updated under the scheme, with new bus lanes and smart traffic signals, which use GPS to track buses’ locations to give them priority.
The approved designs for the Queensway, New Bristol Road and B3440 schemes have been shaped by in-depth discussions with community representatives, alongside detailed technical analysis. As a result of this extensive work, the designs:
- focus on improving congestion and traffic flow for all road users
- aim to increase road capacity, which will benefit peak travel times and allow for faster journeys outside of peak times
- include new, strategically placed bus lanes to reduce bus delays
- improve pedestrian crossings at the Queensway and Walford Avenue
- include the Summerhouse and Victory roundabout improvements
- turn the bus lane on Bristol Road into a general traffic lane, to support overall road traffic capacity and movements in the area.
The Executive Member decision to approve the scheme can be viewed at: January 2025 executive member decisions | North Somerset Council. Following this decision, a legal Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) will be published to formally advertise changes to the highway around 12 weeks before any works are due to begin.
The TRO period is a legal process and further and final opportunity for residents to submit any formal comments.
Cllr Hannah Young, Executive Member for Highways and Transport at North Somerset Council said: “These junction improvements are sorely needed for the Queensway, New Bristol Road and B3440 area of Worle, so I am pleased to be able to announce this next step for the area. I want to emphasise that this project would be no small undertaking, and we would of course do everything we can to minimise disruption.
These improvements are only possible through the current ring-fenced funding we’ve received from the UK Government under the Bus Service Improvement Plan. With it, we can put in place infrastructure changes to benefit our growing population now and in future, which wouldn’t be achievable without external government funding.”
The junction improvements scheme will be managed in conjunction with infrastructure upgrades elsewhere on the network. This includes at junction 21 of the M5 by National Highways, the replacement of Winterstoke Road Bridge by the council on behalf of the Ministry of Defence, and the creation of Banwell Bypass. All network upgrades are being managed within tight funding windows.
More detail of the programme, such as project dates, diversion routes and temporary bus service changes, will be published on the North Somerset Council website later this year.
With future development and a growing population on the way, more people travelling by bus releases pressure on the road network, and makes more effective use of squeezed road space, speeding up journeys for all road users. One double decker bus can carry up to 75 people and so take that same number of cars off the road. Putting in place infrastructure and bus service improvements allows North Somerset to ease pressure on our roads and offers a quick, reliable, and often cheaper, alternative to driving.