A303 Improvement Study
Devon County Council
History
• Numerous plans to upgrade A303 since early 1990’s,
none implemented due to:
• economic uncertainties
• costs involved
• significant environmental constraints
• Somerset set up consortium (local authorities and LEP) in
early 2012 to make the case for improvements focussing
on:
• Lack of resilience in transport routes that link the South West
• Road works and collisions have large negative impact
• Poor journey time reliability
• Belief that investment would stimulate economic growth
Making the Case
• Findings:
• Perception of poor quality route stifles growth of business
• Economic study predicts £42bn benefit (gross value added) if route
was improved
• Proposals:
• Identified three sections that offer value for money and could be
delivered relatively quickly:
• Chicklade Bottom to Mere: £150m
• Sparkford to Ilchester: £50m
• Ilminster to Honiton: £50m
• Results:
• Work received positively
• DfT committed HA to review the A303 route
What now?
• Highways Agency:
• Reviewing the full A30/A303 route from Exeter to Andover, and the
A358
• Options Assessment Report will be completed end of July
• This will guide specific schemes to focus on, results of which will be
fed back prior to the Autumn Statement
There are however no schemes between Honiton
and Broadway
• Devon County Council:
• Reviewing Honiton to Broadway section
• Study to feed into Highways Agency study
• Plan to develop a long term improvement strategy for the route which
sets out incremental improvements over time
• Identify £50m scheme(s) that could be delivered quickly
Considerations
Dualling is
undeliverable
Blackdown
Hills AONB
Relatively
Low Traffic
Levels
Economic
Climate
• Dualling is undeliverable for a number reasons:
• The route travels through a protected landscape – schemes need
to be sensitive to the environment
• Traffic levels relatively low so economic case for dualling can not
be made
• Schemes will need to compete nationally to secure funding against
competing schemes with high BCR (benefit to cost ratio) therefore
costs need to be minimised
• HA study brief also sets out that dualling is not appropriate
Get involved
• More information on website:
www.a303ahead.co.uk
• Consultation open until 22nd April via online survey
• We will report back to Stakeholders in June and present
findings and prioritisation
Contact: transportplanning@devon.gov.uk
Study Area
Study Area West
Study Area East