Woolwell and Outland Road

Catching up with some Plymouth City Council news…

Bottleneck

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

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

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.

Plymouth City Council

Plan

An ambitious plan for what Plymouth and South West Devon could be like in 2034 covering important issues like health, transport, homes, jobs and the economy, green spaces and infrastructure is to be considered by three councils next week.

The Plymouth and South West Devon Joint Local Plan is going to the Full Council in each local authority on the following days:

• Plymouth – Monday 27 February
• West Devon – Tuesday 28 February
• South Hams – Thursday 2 March

The Joint Local Plan is a culmination of months of planning and discussions between local communities, neighbouring councils, landowners, businesses and developers, interested in shaping the future of the area.

Councillor Patrick Nicholson, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Strategic Housing, Transport, and Planning said: “This plan is vital for the future success of Plymouth, West Devon and South Hams. We have planned for the new homes and jobs that we need so that the area can thrive. A huge amount of work has gone on behind the scenes to take on board as many different views as possible. Here in Plymouth we’ve made huge efforts to strike the right balance between the need for growth and protecting our important green spaces for generations to come.

All three councils will be asked to agree that the Joint Local Plan is ready to submit to an independent Government Planning Inspector and if approved, a final consultation will get underway and will run from 15 March to 26 April 2017. This will be the last chance for the public to comment on the Joint Local Plan before it is formally submitted for examination. At this stage, the public and other interested organisations will be able to make comments but these need to relate to the soundness of the plan.

For more information visit http://web.plymouth.gov.uk/plymouthplan

Outland Road

Work to improve a key junction on one of the busiest roads into the city is nearing completion.

The Outland Road Junction Improvement Scheme aims to reduce congestion between Peverell Park Road and Torr Lane, improving journey times for motorists and service reliability for buses on this busy route. It will also improve road safety by upgrading pedestrian crossings and providing new on-road cycle lanes.

The first phase of the scheme at Peverell Park Road was completed in March 2016. The main works between Torr Lane and Weston Park Road / Ham Drive junctions began construction in September 2016. The original programme had a completion date of March 2017 but the contractor uncovered poor ground conditions that resulted in the completion date extending by a few weeks. This was unfortunately unavoidable.

We are coming towards the end of the scheme and aim to have the improved junction at Torr Lane reopened next week, which will alleviate much of the disruption to local residents and businesses. The current closure of Weston Park Road is also due to be lifted at the end of this week. From next week there will be a westbound closure of Ham Drive between Outland Road and Camilla Terrace, which will be in place for a maximum of three to four weeks. As with all the road closures so far, signed diversions will be in place for both motorists and pedestrians.

The diversions are essential in order for the works to be carried out safely, with the minimum amount of disruption to all road users. With a scheme of this size, at such a sensitive location, it is not possible to provide improvements without some delays being experienced. However we are trying to keep these to a minimum as far as possible.

Although there has been some weekend and night working to reduce the length of the construction period, this is disruptive to those living close by and the associated costs are substantial.

We work closely with the contractor, Amey LG, to ensure the scheme is delivered as far as is possible within the programme timescales and budget. Although there has inevitably been some disruption, the scheme will have significant benefits for the city in terms of providing better transport facilities for the future