Council leader urges Highways Agency to speed up A38 works

Council leader Tudor Evans has written to the Highways Agency urging them to review their planned programme of work to replace the A38 Merafield Road bridge.

He is calling on the agency to see if they can reduce the disruption and time the project will take after learning the agency plan to carry out the work over 70 weeks.

The Council leader has also written the city’s MPs Alison Seabeck, Oliver Colvile, Gary Streeter as well as key business figures asking them to apply pressure on the agency.

Letters have been sent to the Chief Executive of Plymouth Chamber of Commerce  Peter Hartland, Chair of the Chamber , Richard Stevens,  Steve Gerry of Plymouth Manufacturers Group, Tim Jones of the Devon and Cornwall Business Council and Charles Howeson.

Councillor Evans said: “While we welcome this investment and understand fully the reasons why the bridge needs to be replaced, I am very concerned about the length of time the work will affect one of the main routes into Plymouth.

“This is not just about Plymouth. This work will cause issues for businesses and visitors using this road to get down to Cornwall and other parts of the peninsula.

“It is worth remembering that when the storms washed away the railway line at Dawlish earlier this year, the staff at Network Rail pulled out all the stops to rebuild the line within nine weeks, working in the most challenging of environments.

“As a Government agency which knows the importance of infrastructure to our economy, we hope that the Highways Agency will be as efficient as possible and pull out all the stops to get this work completed as quickly as possible.”

The A38 eastern approach to Plymouth, along the A38, has among the highest traffic flows anywhere in the South West .Even with the existing arrangement of three lanes in each direction, this section of the A38 suffers frequently from long delays and tailbacks during peak periods.

The Highways Agency is closing all the eastbound lanes on the A38, and will operate a contraflow system with two lanes in each direction with a 50mph speed restriction.

Councillor Evans will also raise the matter with the Transport Secretary, Rt Hon Patrick McLoughlin when he visits the city next week.