Council to tackle traffic bottleneck in north of city

Plans to tackle one of Plymouth’s worst traffic bottlenecks have been given the green light.

Plymouth City Council has allocated £420,000 for design work on a scheme to alleviate congestion at the notorious pinch point between Woolwell Roundabout and The George.

The council has also committed more than £15 million in its capital budget to deliver the scheme, which will help reduce congestion along the A386 Tavistock Road and support proposed new developments in the north of the city.

More than 30,000 vehicles use this section of Tavistock Road during the day and there are often queues and delays at peak times, caused by traffic having to merge over very short distances.

The council are exploring options to widen the road between Woolwell Roundabout and The George and provide two lanes in each direction, removing the need to merge and reducing journey times for everyone.

The scheme will also include plans to upgrade the junction with Woolwell Road, as well as improved public transport, walking and cycling links.

Some initial feasibility work has already been completed and the funding agreed today will be used to develop the design, undertake surveys and quantify the benefits and impacts of the scheme.

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Transport, Housing and Planning, said: “This Council has made it a priority to tackle traffic bottlenecks and help keep Plymouth moving and this stretch of Tavistock Road is a well-known hotspot for traffic hold-ups.

“Congestion is only going to increase as the city grows and we must deliver improvements on key routes to enable new developments to come forward and accommodate the additional traffic they will generate.

“We have added the scheme to our capital programme but will explore all potential sources of external funding to support this essential infrastructure improvement work.”

The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan, due to be published later this month, identifies Derriford and the northern corridor as one of three strategic growth areas where most of the planned growth in the city will take place through to 2034. The vision for this area is that it will be transformed to create a high quality, distinctive, vibrant, mixed-use new heart for Plymouth. The vision supports major investments and radical improvements in transport infrastructure and the Woolwell to the George project is the flagship infrastructure project as part of this.

The scheme will be part of a master plan of highway improvements that will help to deliver jobs and homes in the north of the city. It will complement other schemes in the area such as the Derriford Transport Scheme, where work has just got under way and the Forder Valley Link Road, which is also currently in development.

We will consult on options being considered in the spring. All comments will inform the next stage of design along with various site surveys and investigations. We are aiming to have a design for the preferred option by the end of the summer.

The decision to fund the Woolwell to The George scheme will be published today and may be subject to call-in for scrutiny.