College Roundabout, which connects the A36 and the A338, is now set to be considered for improvements, according to Wiltshire Council.

The council has said it intends to liaise with National Highways to look at potential improvements to the roundabout.

The roundabout has been referred to by councillors as "the biggest cause of Salisbury's traffic problems" and "a major bottleneck".

The Salisbury Transport Strategy Summary, from June 2018, recommended improvements to the A36 College roundabout, adding that the junction between Churchill Way and the A36 was "performing at critical levels during the AM peak hour".

This announcement comes after the council opened a public consultation to improve three busy Salisbury junctions.

In a £15m project, Wiltshire Council suggested improvements to Exeter Street Roundabout, Harnham Gyratory and Park Wall Junction, in an attempt to reduce congestion and delays across the city.

College Roundabout was originally not included in the plans.

However, after the public and city council gave feedback on the proposals, the council announced this week that it is to "look again" at the plans.

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A Salisbury councillor has praised Wiltshire Council for "listening" to residents in holding off its junctions project in response to consultation feedback.

Salisbury Journal:

Annie Riddle, Independent city councillor for West Harnham and a member of the city council's joint leadership, told the Journal that she is glad that the council have "listened".

She criticised the proposed junction improvements on social media and protested to Wiltshire Cabinet Member for Transport, Cllr Dr Mark McClelland.

The councillor said: "I'm very glad he has listened, and has finally persuaded National Highways of the need to do more.

"It made no sense to spend taxpayers' money on minor alterations to three congestion hotspots without tackling the biggest cause of Salisbury's problems - the A36 and College Roundabout.

"Harnham residents will equally be delighted that Wiltshire has recognised the need to reassess traffic along Netherhampton Road once commuting returns to normal levels.

"Having said that, the extra traffic that will be generated by all the new developments coming in this part of the city over the next few years has been woefully underestimated and I can't envisage any Gyratory 'improvement' scheme that will cope with it."

Charles McGrath, Conservative city councillor for Salisbury Milford, added: "This is a welcome development and shows clearly that Wiltshire Council are listening to the people of Salisbury when it comes to improving routes in and around our city. 

"It is particularly pleasing to hear that College Roundabout will be considered for improvement going forwards, as the Salisbury Transport Plan 2018 identified this as being a major bottleneck at peak times."

The council originally intended to submit an outline business case for the project for consideration by the Department for Transport (DfT) in December.

Now, in response to consultation feedback, the council is to review traffic data to improve the scheme.

Cllr Dr Mark McClelland, Wiltshire Council Cabinet Member for Transport, said the council is to look at traffic flow on the junctions during peak hours, before preparing the outline business case, and then submitting it to the DfT for feedback: “We’ll then make changes based on DfT’s feedback before holding further public consultation on the scheme.”

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