Residents of Wiltshire are “very disappointed, frustrated and angry” that their village is suffering from the A36 closure, a parish council said. The volume of vehicles trying to squeeze through narrow lanes at Limpley Stoke has more than doubled since the closure of the main road from Bath to Warminster earlier this month. The council recorded 638 vehicles going down Crowe Hill between 6am and 10am on Monday, August 19, compared to 234 vehicles on Monday, July 15.
The A36 Warminster Road between Limpley Stoke and Monkton Combe is closed for safety improvement works, including stabilization of the southbound embankment, from Monday, August 12 to spring 2025. Now parish council chairman Ian Barnes says: “Understandably, everyone is very disappointed, frustrated and angry that the village is suffering from the National Highways decision to close the A36.” Mr Barnes says the situation seems to have improved since August 19 but adds: “However, there are still some pinch points which become more serious at peak times.
” The parish council asked National Highways to put measures in place to alleviate the situation but most have been rejected as unworkable or cannot legally be upheld. National Highways has put signed diversions in place for the A36 closure but some drivers are still following SatNavs and trying to use local roads as alternative routes. (Image: National Highways) In response, National Highways said: “We’re sorry for the disruption the start of this clo.