Have your say on plans to extend Dinan Way

A public consultation on proposals to extend Dinan Way in Exmouth was launched yesterday (Tuesday 2 June).

Devon County Council is putting forward plans to complete Dinan Way, with a long awaited extension between Hulham Road and the A376.

While the online consultation is underway, there will also be a two day drop-in event at Brixington Community Church from 2pm to 7pm on Friday 12 June and from 10am to 2pm on Saturday 13 June, where people can view information, ask questions, and comment on the proposals. Additional events are also being arranged in Lympstone and Exmouth, and will be announced when suitable dates and venues have been confirmed.

The A376 and B3179 Woodbury Road are both used extensively for commuting purposes into Exeter, with manual traffic counts showing that Rivermead Avenue and Featherbed Lane are currently used as “rat runs” by commuters.

New housing development sites identified by East Devon District Council for Littleham Plumb Park and Upper Lovering Farm, and employment development planned around the Liverton Industrial Estate, are expected to add further pressure on the existing road network. The proposed Dinan Way extension would aim to improve traffic flow to and from the town by preventing the use of inappropriate routes and providing a more suitable alternative.

Two possible route options are being proposed for the extension. Option One is the “Valley Route” which joins the A376 near Pitt Farm. As this is the most direct route alignment it presents a bigger civil engineering challenge and involves substantial earthworks, which is expected to cause more disruption on the A376 and take longer than Option Two, the “South Route”, which would connect to the A376 near Courtlands Cross. This option does not need the same level of earthworks.

The proposals on display will also ask people whether or not they think Summer Lane should be closed to through traffic.

Councillor Andrew Leadbetter, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Economy and Growth, said: “The growth of Exmouth over the years has also led to a growth in traffic to and from the town. Although passenger numbers using the railway station have been steadily increasing for a number of years, and the Exe Estuary Trail now also offers a realistic sustainable alternative for anyone travelling to work or school, the highway network is in need of improvements. Dinan Way has comparatively low traffic flows compared to the A376 and B3179, which indicates that it has significant additional capacity which can be used. The feedback from the consultation will help inform the selection of the preferred route alignment for any future scheme.”

Councillor Bernard Hughes OBE, local County Councillor for Exmouth Halsdon and Woodbury, said: “I welcome the announcement of this round of consultations on the possibility of completing this long awaited relief road for Exmouth. I was first elected to serve as a County Councillor in 1989 and talks have been ongoing ever since that date to bring relief to the residential areas to the north of Exmouth, which were never built, or expected, to carry such high volumes of traffic. The daily lives of people in Woodbury are also being blighted by increasing traffic volumes.
 
“I think that the County Council’s engineering design team has arrived at the best solutions of this long standing problem and I am pleased that the outlined scheme is in accord with the newly published Lympstone Neighbourhood Plan. The new road, if acceptable should also take away Heavy Goods Vehicles from passing the gates of the largest school in Europe and the Community Hospital. I both welcome and commend this scheme for the greater good of the whole area and my hope is that there will be a very favourable reception by the whole community.”

Devon County Council’s Cabinet is expected to discuss the route options by this Winter, with the aim of a planning application being submitted in Summer 2016. Subject to funding and obtaining the necessary approvals, work could start by 2017/18.

The online consultation, which ends on Wednesday 15 July, is available at https://new.devon.gov.uk/haveyoursay

Alternatively write to: Engineering Design Group, Matford Office, Devon County Council, County Hall, Topsham Road, Exeter, EX2 4QW.