DRIVERS face a 40-mile detour taking 90 minutes to get around a 200m stretch of roadworks.
The diversion involves a torturous circular trek though 13 towns and villages.
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Local residents and businesses have slammed the suggested route as a waste of time and petrol.
One insisted: “There are much easier and shorter routes, so why are they making it so difficult for motorists? It makes no sense.”
A 195m stretch of the A371 at Rodney Stoke, between Wells in Somerset and Cheddar eight miles away, is shut for five days later this month.
Traffic is told to head 40 miles via Wells, Glastonbury, Street, Ashcott, Knowle, Highbridge and Axbridge.
Drivers can cut journey times in half using B-roads and lanes.
But official diversions have to cater for every vehicle so A-road closures will use other A-roads.
The works are for Gigaclear to upgrade internet cables.
It said: “We regret any inconvenience.”
A similar detour was in place on the same road at Westbury-sub-Mendip in 2020 so Bristol Water could replace a tap.
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