Next phase to start on the Derriford Transport Scheme

The next phase of improvement works on the A386 Tavistock Road is set to start.

Work along the A386 Tavistock Road between Budshead Road and just south of Sendall’s Way will start on Wednesday 22 March and work along William Prance Road on Thursday 23 March.

The Derriford Transport Scheme will aim to reduce congestion along Tavistock Road and provide better public transport, walking and cycling links – improving journey times for all users.

Extra lanes will be created and bus priority measures introduced at Derriford Roundabout and the William Prance Road junction to reduce journey times and improve service reliability.

Modern and efficient traffic signals will be installed, along with new, marked cycle lanes and new pedestrian crossings. Walking and cycling improvements will also extend northwards along the A386 from Derriford Roundabout towards the George Park and Ride.

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, deputy leader and cabinet member for strategic transport, housing and planning said: “This is one of the key schemes we need if the city is to grow and prosper in years to come.

“We need to plan ahead and make sure we have a road network that gets us to work, gets us home and helps us enjoy all that Plymouth offers. Doing this work now is an investment in the city’s future and opens up opportunities for homes and work in the north of the city. 

“We are doing all we can to keep disruption to a minimum to road users. Please bear with us.”

Working hours will continue between 8am and 6pm Monday to Friday, with the occasional Saturday and night working to keep disruption down

The Tavistock Road entrance to William Prance Road will be closed from 23 March until September and vehicle access will be via Derriford Roundabout and Brest Road only. The Council will be pursuing opportunities to re-open the right turn from Tavistock Road into William Prance Road earlier and pedestrian and cycle access will remain.

Lane closures on Tavistock Road between Budshead Road and Sendall’s Way will be in place until September. The aim is still to keep two traffic lanes open in both directions along Tavistock Road for the majority of the time to keep traffic flowing and minimise disruption. 

To allow this, the bus lanes on both sides of the road between Budshead Road and Derriford Roundabout will be suspended throughout the works, so they can be used by all traffic.

The right turn into Charlton Road will be closed until Winter from Wednesday 22 March. Northbound vehicles will need to go around Derriford Roundabout and travel back down Tavistock Road to access Charlton Road.

On-street parking along Brest Road will be suspended to allow better flow of two way traffic when the William Prance Road junction is closed.

The speed limit will be reduced from 40mph to 30mph throughout the works and some overnight closures will be needed to help minimise disruption to traffic during the day – these will be advertised in advance using notices on site.

A route through the road works on Tavistock Road has been agreed with the emergency services to minimise impact on blue light vehicles.

Work has been going on since 3 January and so far the team has carried out site clearance, diverted utility services and started to lay new kerbs and drainage blocks on Tavistock Road, as well as filling in the central reservation and starting to place the structural foundations of the new traffic lanes.

Now people are being invited to ‘drop-in’ and have a chat with the project team. The ‘meet the team’ sessions will take place between 5pm and 7pm at the Council’s Windsor House offices on the following dates:

Monday 27 March
Monday 8 May
Monday 12 June
Monday 10 July
More sessions will be arranged after the summer and will be advertised.

The scheme is expected to be complete in spring 2018. Anyone travelling along this route is advised to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journey.

The Heart-of-the-South-West Local Enterprise Partnership (HotSW LEP) is contributing £10.16 million towards the £13 million scheme.

For more information visit www.plymouth.gov.uk/derrifordtransportscheme