Homes are demolished ahead of A386 widening
DEMOLITION work on homes in Plymouth has begun ahead of the planned widening of a major road which has long been a commuter bottleneck in the north of the city.
As part of the multi-million pound plans for the A386 Tavistock Road, the highway scheme will increase capacity on the stretch between Woolwell roundabout and the George Junction.
This narrow section of road currently has a single carriageway in both directions, linked by dual carriageways to the north and south, and is a pinch point on the busy route, causing long queues and delays, especially at peak times.
As part of the improvement plans, Plymouth City Council bought up land and some of the houses on the stretch to enable the road widening and dualling to take place.
The council previously signed off plans to borrow just over £2 million so it could buy up properties which may be in the way of Tavistock Road improvements and demolish them as necessary, before putting ‘redesigned’ properties back on the market to pay back the cash it borrowed to finance the deal.
That demolition work began late last week and follows council approval earlier this month for the scheme designed to alleviate congestion on the A386 in the north of the city. More than 30,000 vehicles use the section of Tavistock Road each day and there are often queues and delays at peak times, caused by traffic having to merge over short distances.
It was back in 1979 when the upgrade to the road was first suggested, but it finally looks set to happen after the Woolwell to the George scheme was awarded funding from the Government.
The scheme, which was awarded £19.9 million from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund (LUF) in the Autumn Budget, will widen the road to create a dual carriageway along the busy stretch and provide new on and off-road cycle paths, wider footways and safer crossing points to support active travel.
A second level will be added on to the George Park and Ride site to provide an extra 350 to 500 parking spaces, including 100 electric vehicle charging bays, helping to promote bus use to and from the north of Plymouth.
Woolwell roundabout will also be replaced with a signalised junction and a new junction will be created at Woolwell Crescent to allow traffic from Woolwell to turn right on to Tavistock Road and travel north towards Roborough and Yelverton.