Devon County Council (DCC) is making progress on construction arrangements for the North Devon Link Road widening and junction improvements. A contractor has been selected to undertake the construction work on the main section of the Scheme. We hope to release the details of the successful contractor soon, subject to the Department for Transport’s acceptance of the Full Business Case. Temporary Traffic Regulation Orders (TTRO’s) will be issued shortly to enable the construction work to proceed safely, and we are using this opportunity to remind the public of the traffic restrictions that will occur during the construction period.
Scope and general details
- These activities relate to the contract that covers works between Portmore Roundabout to the bridge that carries Park Lane (Filleigh) over the Link Road, plus three more individual areas of work; at Hacche Lane junction; at Ford Lane Underbridge; and at Borners Bridge Junction for Station Road, South Molton.
- The contract may commence in late 2020, and run for approximately three years. However, it is unlikely that the contractor will begin to enact many of the traffic restrictions until 2021.
- The contractor will set up a public website for the project and will be required to keep this updated with information regarding traffic management proposals and progress. A link to this website will be posted on the homepage of the DCC scheme website for easy access. Contact details for the contractor will also be publicly available.
- Two traffic lanes (one in each direction) of the North Devon Link Road will remain open to traffic throughout, except as detailed below.
- Breakdown Recovery will be provided to remove broken down vehicles from the area of roadworks.
Temporary traffic restrictions – speed limit
- There will be a reduced speed limit of 40mph in force for the duration of the works.
Road closures and traffic lights
The contract allows for the following durations of road closures and traffic lights. However, this does not mean that the contractor will choose to use them all.
Temporary traffic restrictions – road closures
- There will be some night-time and weekend closures of the Link Road (dates will be dependent on the contractor’s programme):
- Night-time closure 20:00hrs to 06:00hrs – on up to 52 occasions.
- Weekend closure 20:00hrs Friday to 06:00hrs Monday – on up to 2 occasions. The weekend closures are expected to be used for the installation of new bridges.
- Side road closures (dates will be dependent on the contractor’s programme):
- C783 Blakes Hill Road (south arm of Landkey Junction) – up to 1 week
- Un-named road (north arm of West Buckland Junction) – up to 1 week. Closure will not be permissible during West Buckland School terms.
- Un-named road (south arm of West Buckland Junction) – up to 1 week.
- Station Hill Road (south arm of Borner’s Bridge Junction) – up to 1 week.
- Un-named road (north arm of Borner’s Bridge Junction) – up to 2 days daytime closure and 1 week night-time closure.
All of the proposed closure dates will be publicised well in advance by the contractor, with the use of driver information signs, email alerts to website subscribers, social media posts, press releases and notices displayed in local communities. Where possible, the contractor will avoid weekend closures between the start of the school Easter holidays and the end of September. In all but exceptional circumstances (for example if the entire road is blocked whilst a bridge is lifted into place) emergency vehicles will be allowed access through the closed section of road.
Temporary traffic restrictions – traffic lights and traffic reduced to one lane
Where the contractor has extensive work to do in an area that is not being widened, and therefore can’t create the space to keep 2 lanes of traffic open, the contract allows the use of traffic lights for limited periods only. These will be:
- Day-time use of traffic lights – 06:00hrs to 20:00hrs – up to 15 weeks
- Night-time use of traffic lights – 20:00hrs to 06:00hrs – up to 30 weeks
To reduce potential delays during peak periods the traffic lights will be manually controlled to optimise the throughput of traffic. All periods of use of traffic lights will go through a formal approval process with DCC and where possible we will avoid bank holiday periods or any major public events.
If you have previously subscribed to Devon County Council’s updates and want to receive future regular newsletters about the construction of the project between South Molton and Portmore, due to GDPR regulations you will need to subscribe again with Griffiths at https://mailchi.mp/alungriffiths/ndlrprojectbulletins
Local suppliers can find out about the “Meet the contractor” event being arranged by Griffiths at https://community.alungriffiths.co.uk/projects-in-your-area/north-devon-link-road/meet-the-contractor/
For more information on the North Devon Link Road project go to: https://community.alungriffiths.co.uk/projects-in-your-area/north-devon-link-road/