Highways Agency

The Project

The South West Area Multi Modal Study (SWARMMS), which reported in May 2002, made recommendations for a long term strategy to address passenger and freight transport on the main rail and road corridors between London and the South West.

One of the key recommendations was that the A30, serving the County of Cornwall, be upgraded to dual carriageway standard between the end of the existing dual carriageway across Bodmin Moor and the start of the dual carriageway Bodmin Bypass, a distance of 4.5km.

In November 2003 the Secretary of State for Transport announced the addition of this scheme to the Targeted Programme of Improvements (TPI), now known as the Programme of Major schemes, and a public consultation /exhibition was held in February 2004.  The outcome of this consultation was the announcement of the Preferred Route for this scheme in March 2005.

In July 2005, the Temple to Higher Carblake Improvement was referred to the South West Regional Assembly for consideration in the advice to Department for Transport on Regional Funding Allocations.

The South West region submitted their advice on transport priorities assuming indicative funding allocations for the next ten years.  Their advice was that the Temple to Higher Carblake Improvement, when weighed against other priorities in the region, be placed in the category of longer-term schemes for delivery outside the first regional funding allocation period. On 6 July 2006, the Secretary of State accepted that advice which means that the Temple to Higher Carblake Improvement is unlikely to be funded before 2016 at the earliest.

Further details on the regional funding process:  http://www.gos.gov.uk/gosw/OurRegion/335990/368859/

Letter from the Secretary of State the South West Regional Assembly and Regional Development Agency responding to their advice on priorities for major transport schemes. Published: 6 July 2006: http://www.dft.gov.uk/pgr/regional/strategy/rfa/response/lettertothesouthwestregional3777