The government has confirmed £26m for A38 upgrades near Bristol Airport, Langford and Sidcot. The council wants to re-tender the build, adding about six months.
The government has confirmed more than £26m for improvements along the A38 between Barrow Gurney and the M5 at junction 22. North Somerset Council announced the funding on Friday 6 November.
The Department for Transport has approved the full business case for the scheme, which the council runs jointly with Somerset Council (North Somerset Council, 6 November).
There is a catch. Officers say the price quoted for building the North Somerset works was too high. On Tuesday 10 November, Full Council is asked to approve a fresh tender for the construction contract. The report says this adds about six months, and puts the start of work in summer 2027 (Council report, 10 November).
Where the work will be
The scheme covers nine places along the A38. Five are in North Somerset and will be built by North Somerset Council. The other four are in Somerset and are Somerset Council’s to deliver.
The council’s scheme pages list the North Somerset five as (A38 drawings and plans):
- Barrow Lane and Hobbs Lane to Dial Lane
- West Lane to the airport terminal roundabout
- the airport terminal roundabout to the Silver Zone roundabout
- the Langford area
- Sidcot Lane to the Hillyfields junction
The Somerset four are the Strawberry Line crossing at Shute Shelve, the Cross junction, Rooks Bridge and the Edithmead roundabout next to M5 junction 22.
The council says the work will improve journey reliability and road safety. It also includes wider walking and cycling paths and new crossings for the Strawberry Line (North Somerset Council, 6 November).
Bristol Airport has to pay for the improvements around the airport. That is a condition of the planning permission that lets it grow to 12 million passengers a year (A38 questions and answers).
Why the building contract is going back out to tender
A contractor was appointed in 2025 under a two-stage deal: design first, then construction. The report says this break point was deliberate, so the council could check the price before committing to build.
When bidders first tendered, they were told construction should fit within about £18m: £6m for Package A and £12m for Package B. The report says the contractor’s construction estimates have since “exceeded these assumptions and the approved funding position”. It does not publish the contractor’s figure.
The report lists the reasons costs rose:
- construction price inflation
- dearer utility diversions
- higher traffic management and programme costs
- design development and risk allowances
- supply chain conditions since the first tender
It adds that independent benchmarking by consultants Rider Levett Bucknall “indicates that they do not fully explain the variance” between the contractor’s price and what the market would expect.
So officers want to start again with a fixed-price contract (NEC4 Option A), instead of a target-cost one. A fixed price moves more of the risk of cost overruns onto the contractor.
What the council now expects to spend
The council’s own benchmark estimate for the construction stage, across both packages, is £33.4m. That is below the approved funding package, the report says, so no extra money should be needed “at this stage”.
| Cost (2027/28 to 2029/30) | Package A | Package B | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction contract | £11.2m | £12.5m | £23.7m |
| Utilities | £2.4m | £2.5m | £4.9m |
| Council staff | £0.4m | £0.5m | £0.9m |
| Project management and surveying | £0.3m | £0.5m | £0.9m |
| Contingency | £1.4m | £1.6m | £3.0m |
| Total | £15.7m | £17.7m | £33.4m |
The council’s capital programme already holds a funding allocation of £30,181,533 for the scheme. A revised allocation, in line with the business case, is expected to be approved by a Cabinet member decision this month.
The new timetable
The report sets out these dates:
| Step | Expected |
|---|---|
| Full Council approves the new approach | 10 November 2026 |
| Procurement plan approved | December 2026 |
| Tender documents issued | January 2027 |
| Tenders evaluated | April 2027 |
| Contract awarded | May or June 2027 |
| Work starts | Summer 2027 |
Officers say the re-tender should not push completion past the end of March 2030, the deadline for spending the government money. The council’s project timeline page still shows construction from summer 2026 to summer 2027, the plan before this delay (A38 project timeline).
What they said
Councillor Mike Bell, the council leader, thanked the Department for Transport. “This comes after years of hard work developing our business cases and we now look forward to moving forward with the work,” he said.
Roads minister Justin Madders said the funding would make journeys “more reliable, with less congestion and safer for pedestrians and cyclists through wider paths and new crossings”.
What it means for you
- No roadworks yet. Nothing starts on the North Somerset stretches before summer 2027, if councillors agree the re-tender on 10 November.
- Expect night and off-peak work. The council says it will try to work overnight and at quieter times, and to keep temporary traffic lights to a minimum. It also says some disruption cannot be avoided.
- Watch for clashes. The council says it is phasing the A38 work so it does not clash with other projects. The nearby Banwell bypass is now due to open in December 2027. Read our report on the bypass delay.
- Plans for each stretch are on the council’s drawings page. Our roadworks and travel page covers what is closed this week.
Full Council meets at 6pm on Tuesday 10 November. The agenda and papers are on the council’s meetings site.
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