My request concerns Clovelly Road Bideford, a local Distributor Road.
Can the DCC tell me if they are considering upgrading Clovelly Road, a Local Distributor Road which is only inspected once every six months, given the extra amount of traffic attracted to this road from the vast recent development of Industrial and Home building and which has contributed to the extremely poor state of the road and subsequent increase in potholes? Surely this road should be inspected every month.
Thank you for your request in relation to Clovelly Road, Bideford. As you correctly state, Clovelly Road is a Category 6 road and classed as a ‘Local Distributor’. The criterion for a Local Distributor is a ‘Main access route to smaller settlements and recreational attractions’. For a road to be classed as a Category 5 road and a ‘Secondary County Route’, it would need to be a ‘Main access route to large settlements and recreational attractions.’ The main access route into Bideford from the A39 is via the A386, Kingsley Road. Clovelly Road is the main access from the A39 into the smaller settlement of Bideford West and therefore the current criterion would be appropriate. We do appreciate however that the area is growing and that there has been and continues to be development taking place in this area. Once the current developments are complete and the necessary changes to the road layout have been incorporated, we will investigate whether a change of road category would be appropriate. Notwithstanding the above, members of the public can report instances of highway defects at any time via our website. Report a problem – Roads and transport (devon.gov.uk) These will be investigated, and repairs actioned where appropriate.