YEOVIL NEWS: Opening up Old Preston Road could help ease traffic problems

AN idea to reopen Old Preston Road to help alleviate some of the traffic congestion around the western side of Yeovil has been mooted again.

There are growing concerns from people living on Houndstone that the estate is becoming a rat run with more and more motorists using the narrow roads of Badger Heights, Bond Street, Roe Avenue and Boundary Road to avoid the busy roundabouts at Palmers and Asda.

PHOTO - TOP: Old Preston Road was blocked off around 20 years ago.

A statement in the latest Brympton Newslink community newsletter said: “It is suggested that the simple solution is to open up the end of Old Preston Road onto the Houndstone roundabout (which links Bluebell Road in Yeovil with New Road leading to Montacute and Old Road to Odcombe).

“This suggestion has been put to Somerset County Council previoulsy, but apparently it classes this section of Preston Road as residential and there also some technical/practical issues with this idea, not the least of which would be the lack of a pavement and the potential impact on residents that front onto this road.”

The newsletter added: “With the development of the Lufton key site, the problem is probably set to get worse.”

The Houndstone estate comes under Brympton Parish Council and it has said that if it wants to put forward a scheme for the re-opening of Old Preston Road, it would need to be promoted as a small improvement scheme by the area’s county council representative Cllr Sam Crabb.

The idea of opening up Old Preston Road would be vigorously opposed by people who live on that section of road.

Back in 2013 when it was discussed by Brympton Parish Council residents opposed it then by saying that “opening up an old leafy lane would have a massive disastrous impact” on them.

PHOTOS - ABOVE: Old Preston Road in Yeovil.

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