South West Exeter
Overview
A series of highway works are planned to be undertaken in the South West Exeter development area.
South West Exeter is a new development on the edge of Exeter. It is expected to deliver 2,500 new homes and also includes 21.5 hectares of land for new employment. The development borders Alphington to the north and to the south extends to the area around the Devon Hotel.
The size of the development as well as its location means that it needs a large amount of infrastructure to support it. Devon County Council were successful in a bid for £55.1 million of funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund which is administered by Homes England, a government agency.
The project involves the delivery of a number of highway schemes as well as other items of infrastructure. The highway schemes to be delivered include:
- four new signal junctions on the A379 providing access to the development
- the realignment of Chudleigh Road
- southern spine road to link development sites south of the A379
- access roundabout to serve employment development at Peamore
- Devon Hotel roundabout upgrade to increase its capacity
- Alphington Village public realm enhancements
- school access to enable the delivery of a new school
- a pedestrian/cycle bridge across the A379
A379 eastern junction
The first piece of infrastructure to start on site is the A379 eastern junction, one of the four new signal junctions listed above.
This is a new access road and signalised junction to a development parcel between the Devon Hotel and Matford roundabouts. It unlocks two land ownerships and is part of Devon County Council’s Housing Infrastructure Fund project at South West Exeter.
The work will also include the drainage along the A379, carriageway realignment, footway widening work where possible.
In addition, a new toucan crossing will be installed near Matford roundabout to connect the south side of the A379 with the shared use path on Bridge Road and Matford Marsh.
The work started in mid-August 2020 and it is anticipated that the scheme will be complete in summer 2021.
The majority of the work will be done under a contraflow system will be in place on the A379 between Matford and Devon Hotel Roundabouts for the majority of the construction phase.
Every effort will be made by the contractor to minimise disruption to the travelling public. There will be requirements during the programme for some overnight full closures and timings for these will be publicised in advance.
Why are we doing this work?
The work is being undertaken to support housing delivery and Devon County Council is coordinating the delivery of this infrastructure in order to minimise disruption and bring forward the housing.
For further information, please visit our dedicated South West Exeter website.
Why do we have to close the road?
We must ensure the safety of our workforce and the public, and in order to comply with our safety guidelines we are unable to carry out some of the activities of this scheme, such as resurfacing works without a road closure.
The closures will be kept to a minimum in order to reduce the disruption to road users to the minimum and will be done at night time only.