Safety improvements for pedestrians and cyclists could seen be made to a coastal road through Berrow as part of wider council plans.
Somerset Council recently published its Burnham and Highbridge local cycling and walking infrastructure plan (LCWIP), which identifies numerous improvements needed to make it safer to walk and cycle across the two towns and to and from the neighbouring villages.
Burnham-On-Sea.com reported the route between Burnham-On-Sea town centre and the neighbouring villages of Berrow and Brean was one of four routes prioritised within the Plan, building off abandoned efforts to create the ‘Berrow Greenway’ in 2018.
Now, local residents have called on the council to implement these changes as funding becomes available, stating that safety improvements are long time overdue.
As shown below, Route 1 runs along the length of the B3140 Berrow Road from its junction with Victoria Street (near St. Andrew’s Church) towards Berrow and Brent via Coast Road.
The road is extremely congested during the summer months, with large number of holidaymakers coming off the M5 at Burnham-On-Sea and using it to reach the numerous holiday parks and caravan clubs in Berrow and Brean.
The LCWIP identifies that there is “no dedicated cycle infrastructure” along the entirety of this route and no dedicated pedestrian crossing for nearly a mile.
In Berrow, whole sections of the route have no dedicated pavements – including the entire stretch of Coast Road between Manor Way and the bus stop at the junction of Hurn Lane.
The plans state: “There are also a number of very wide junctions, including Sea View Road, Victoria Street and at the Triangle, which are busy and can be particularly difficult to cross for people walking and wheeling.”
Active travel consultants Greenway and Cycle Routes undertook a study in 2017 to create the ‘Berrow Greenway’, providing a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists between Berrow and Burnham-On-Sea and linking up with the Brean Down Way to Weston-super-Mare (which opened the same year).
The greenway would have built on existing footpaths and bridleways and created a safe path away from the busy road, using construction methods similar to those recently employed on the Strawberry Line and the Robert Richards Initiative as part of the Glastonbury town deal.
Plans for the first phase, which would have run from Unity Farm to the Co-op store in Berrow Road, secured planning permission from Sedgemoor District Council in May 2018.
However, the scheme was never implemented – with Greenways and Cycle Routes admitting that delivering the route “utterly depends upon the support and goodwill of local landowners”, including Burnham and Berrow Golf Club.
Burnham and Berrow Golf Club has said it is supportive of plans to create the proposed long-awaited footpath along Coast Road in Berrow, as we reported in July.
Until such a route is implemented, the only continuous off-road walking and cycling route between Berrow and Burnham is along the nearby beach – which becomes an unattractive option during inclement weather or high tides.
While the 2018 planning permission has now lapsed, Somerset Council noted in its LCWIP that the Berrow Greenway scheme could be revived provided that it “meets the design standards” set by the Department for Transport, known technically as LTN1/20.
In the meantime, the council has proposed that the following proposals could be implemented once government grants or contributions from local housing developments becomes available:
- Redesigning key junction along Berrow Road to improve pedestrian safety, and look for the opportunities to deliver safe new crossings
- Widening pavements where feasible
- Identifying a safe, alterative north-south walking and cycling route to Coast Road
- Implementing traffic calming measures and 20mph speed limits to reduce the risk to people who currently have to walk on the road
The council was awarded £684,781 by Active Travel England in November 2024, the bulk of which must be used to design and deliver new walking and cycling infrastructure across Somerset.
A report on how this funding is expected to be prioritised over the coming year is expected to come before the council’s executive committee in October.
Active Travel England confirmed in November 2024 that the council would receive an additional allocation of £684,781 towards active travel improvements across Somerset, on top of funding previously allocated.
This latest grant must be committed to delivering schemes by the end of March 2026, and construction work must be finished by March 2027, notes the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
You can access the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans here: Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans and view the detailed Burnham and Highbridge plan here.
