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

Wiltshire Council announced this week that it is to "look again" at plans to improve Salisbury and Wilton junctions following feedback from the public and Salisbury City Council.

Read more: Salisbury junction improvements: Wiltshire Council to 'look again' at plans

The council is now set to liaise with National Highways to look at potential improvements to College Roundabout on the A36, which was originally not included in the plans, after comments were made in the consultation.

In the summer, Wiltshire Council was seeking views on its proposals to improve the three junctions at Exeter Street Roundabout, Harnham Gyratory and Park Wall Junction, in a £15m project to reduce congestion and delays across the city.

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.

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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."

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