New bypass opens as part of Hinkley Point C road improvement works

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• published: 18 Dec 2015
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New bypass around the village of Cannington opens ahead of schedule as part of a £16m package of road improvements for the Hinkley Point C development EDF Energy has invested significantly in a number of schemes ahead of the main works at Hinkley Point C to mitigate pressures on the local road network. These include new roundabouts on the A39 at Washford Cross and at Sandford Corner, road improvements at Taunton Road/Broadway in Bridgwater and the new bypass at Cannington. The new road links the existing roundabout on the A39 Cannington southern bypass with the C182 (Rodway) which leads directly to Hinkley Point. It is part of a £16 million package of road improvements paid for by EDF Energy, providing a permanent lasting legacy from the new nuclear power station at Hinkley Point C. EDF Energy has worked in partnership with Somerset County Council, district and parish councillors, and contractor Aggregate Industries to design and construct the bypass. When construction begins at Hinkley Point C, it is anticipated that more than 80% of the aggregate material needed for the project will come by sea rather than by road. TRANSCRIPT - ROSS EDWARDS, Community Relations Manager – HPC: We’ve built the Cannington Bypass to take traffic around the village of Cannington. Cannington is on the main route into Hinkley Point C. It’s a lovely village and with the traffic we’re going to put onto the roads we had to mitigate that impact and we’re committed to doing that via the planning process and we’ve actually delivered it. We’re ahead of schedule. We started back in 2014, the autumn of 2014, and we delivered it December 2015, which was a bit ahead of schedule. Residents were pretty pleased. Our teams were pretty pleased to get it done. It was hard work but we got there in the end. - KIERAN HICKS, Project Manager – EDF Energy: It’s a one and a half kilometre single carriageway road with a three and a half metre ride cycleway/footway down the full extent of the bypass. We began in 2014 with some fairly extensive archaeology works which presented their own challenges and then proceeded with the site clearance. Right from the concept stage of the bypass we’ve been very conscious of our duty to mitigate the impacts on ecology and the landscape in the construction of the bypass so we’ve got various measures that we’ve implemented and constructed. One, and probably the most significant, being the eco-tunnel that we’ve constructed which is designed to provide safe passage of not only bats but other mammals across the bypass. The project has sustainability credentials as well in so much as one of the measures we’ve taken is using a locally-sourced aggregate supply which is literally within 100 yards of the bypass. We’ve also constructed a culvert which basically maintains the existing mill stream underneath the bypass and another ecological measure that we’ve implemented within the culvert is a mammal ledge and we’ve already had signs of otters using that mammal ledge which is a very positive sign. - ROSS EDWARDS, Community Relations Manager – HPC: We’ve opened the bypass ahead of schedule in December 2015. We had the local authorities, the county council who ultimately are responsible for the roads involved. We had the parish council, they helped Nigel Cann our Construction Director open the road and it really was a celebration of all the hard work that our contractor partners, Aggregate Industries who have actually delivered this project, the project managers the programme managers and a lot of the planning team as well. It really has been a team effort to deliver this road ahead of schedule. - Cllr COLIN ALLEN, Chairman of Cannington Parish Council: The bypass to Cannington means everything. It was absolutely essential that we had this bypass, and every effort has been made to get it completed as quickly as possible. We’ve done everything we can as a parish council in the village to ensure that that happens. - NIGEL CANN, Site Construction Director – Hinkley Point C: Well, it’s important I think when you build a huge infrastructure like this we’re trying to leave a legacy in a lot of areas and clearly the road infrastructure improvements we’re building will be a lasting legacy. It’s also a legacy of skills and employment and the great thing about Hinkley is it’s a great opportunity for local businesses to get involved and for local people to either up-skill or re-skill to work at Hinkley Point. If you look at the bypass for example around 250 local people have actually worked on the bypass in some shape or form so I think it’s a great story how not only will we leave a legacy of infrastructure but hopefully we’ll leave a legacy of skills and employment.