The Highways authority has confirmed that it is happy to support the Town Council’s proposal for adjustment to the Burnham-on-Sea high street safety measures, which will come into effect on Monday 20th July. 

Changes will be made to the pedestrianisation, which will remove the one-way road systems in side streets and aim to better strike a balance between the demands of town centre residents, shoppers and traders, whilst still maintaining road closures in those areas requiring additional space for social distancing.  

The revised system will retain two specified sections of High Street pedestrianisation, but all other areas and side roads revert back to the traffic movement that applied prior to the street safety measures. The detail of changes are as follows:

1. The pedestrianisation between College Street and Regent street will remain. The pavements from College Street to Regent Street are narrow and there can be queues of pedestrians spanning the road across to the former job centre.
2. The section of High Street between College Street and Cross Street will be opened to traffic, with two-way traffic returning to College Street west and Cross Street. The pavements in the College Street to Cross Street section are wide enough to manage social distancing.
3. The High Street section between Cross Street and Adam Street remains pedestrianised and closed to traffic. The pavements in this section are narrow in places, especially outside the town’s big Peacocks store.
4. The High Street section between Adam street and Abingdon Street will be open to traffic, with both side streets returning to two-way traffic. The pavements in the South of the High Street are wide enough to manage social distancing.
5. The temporary pedestrianised areas should remain in place from 9am to 5:30pm.

The Highways authority has confirmed the County Council is in a position to fund the newly revised scheme under the Somerset Active Travel fund until the end of August, which is beyond the original specified end date of 7^th August. The town council resolved to keep the scheme under review.