Highways Agency

A38 Dobwalls Bypass

Public Inquiries Outline Statement.

September 2005

OUTLINE STATEMENT

This Outline Statement relates to proposals for the A38 Dobwalls Bypass contained in the following draft Orders which have been published under the Highways Act 1980 and the Acquisition of Land Act 1981:

• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) ORDER 200
• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) DETRUNKING ORDER 200
• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) SIDE ROADS ORDER 200
• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER (MP NO. 29) 200
• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) NO.2 SIDE ROADS ORDER 200
• THE A38 TRUNK ROAD (DOBWALLS BYPASS) SUPPLEMENTARY COMPULSORY PURCHASE ORDER (MP NO. 39) 200

This Outline Statement has been prepared in accordance with the requirements of the Highways (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1994 (SI 1994 / No. 3263) and the Compulsory Purchase by Ministers (Inquiries Procedure) Rules 1994 (SI 1994 / No. 3264).

CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION
2. THE EXISTING A38
3. THE NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT
4. DESCRIPTION OF PUBLISHED SCHEME PROPOSALS
5. EFFECTS OF PUBLISHED SCHEME
6. CONCLUSIONS

Figure OST1 - SCHEME PLAN (270KB PDF)

1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 The Highways Agency has announced the intention of the Secretary of State for Transport to hold concurrent public inquiries (referred to from here on as the public inquiry) in order to consider objections and representations to the published draft Orders listed at the front of this Outline Statement that contain the proposals for the A38 Dobwalls Bypass.

1.2 This is an outline of the case that will be presented on behalf of the Secretary of State at the forthcoming public inquiry, programmed to start on 17 January 2006. It deals briefly with the need for improvement, the Published Scheme proposals and the effects of the Scheme. Fuller details will be presented in the Statement of Case that will also cover relevant Government policies on transport, as well as explaining the development of the Scheme and the alternatives that have been considered. The Statement of Case will also detail the extent of supporting evidence that will be presented for the Published Scheme.

2 THE EXISTING A38

2.1 The A38 trunk road links mid Cornwall to the motorway network at Exeter via Plymouth and the Tamar Bridge. It is a key route for long distance commercial and holiday traffic.

2.2 The A38 between Exeter and Plymouth is a dual 2-lane carriageway except for two short lengths, south of Exeter and east of Plymouth, where it is a dual 3-lane carriageway. From the western side of Plymouth through to the western side of the village of Trerulefoot the A38 is single carriageway, whereupon it becomes a dual 2-lane carriageway through to the Moorswater Industrial Estate, west of Liskeard.

2.3 At Moorswater the A38 tapers down from the dual 2-lane carriageway to a single carriageway and there is a junction with New Road from Liskeard. Over the 600 metres (m) length at Moorswater there are seven private and minor road accesses directly onto the trunk road.

2.4 Continuing westward, the 1.5 kilometre (km) length on the A38 between Moorswater and Dobwalls has a climbing lane with a gradient of seven percent. There are direct accesses onto the trunk road from Tuelmenna (C0231), North Boduel (unclassified), Petersfields and a lay-by with access to Lantoom Quarry.

2.5 On the western approach to Dobwalls there is a 40 miles per hour (mph) speed limit that extends through the village and onto Doublebois. The A38 extends for approximately 900m through Dobwalls with over 200 properties fronting onto the trunk road, with a number having direct access onto the A38. There is a pelican crossing and a number of priority junctions with minor roads, including Havett Road (C0020) and Coldwind Lane (unclassified). On the western side of Dobwalls there is a Y junction with the A390 to St Austell that is controlled by traffic signals.

2.6 Continuing westwards towards Doublebois the A38 has five private accesses directly onto the trunk road as well as a minor junction with Tammeys Lane (unclassified). Along this 900m length the A38 is constricted with narrow verges between Cornish hedges.

2.7 The A390 is part of the primary road network, with Cornwall County Council being the Highway Authority. From the traffic signals with the A38 it descends steeply to pass beneath the London to Penzance railway. From the railway bridge the A390 climbs past Treburgie Water where there are five accesses of which four are adjacent to each other. Continuing southwest along the A390 there are further accesses leading to Treburgie and Trevelmond.

3 THE NEED FOR IMPROVEMENT

3.1 The stretch of the A38 through Dobwalls carries an annual average traffic flow of 20,700 vehicles per day, of which nine percent are heavy goods vehicles. Of this flow 90% is through traffic and does not stop in Dobwalls. At the signal controlled junction with the A390, the A38 westbound traffic splits with approximately 60% continuing on the A38 and 40% joining the A390. The traffic flows in Dobwalls are more than this single carriageway road (with its constraints) can accommodate satisfactorily, so queues are a regular and predictable sight.

3.2 This situation becomes even worse at holiday times, with the attractiveness of the South West as a holiday destination. During these periods traffic flows increase up to 25,000 vehicles per day east of Dobwalls. Queues often extend from the A390 traffic signals through Dobwalls and Moorswater, and onto the Liskeard Bypass.

3.3 The community of Dobwalls is badly affected by the severance created by the A38 running through the centre of the village. The intrusion of 20,700 vehicles per day brings attendant hazards and high levels of traffic noise that have an impact on everyday life.

3.4 The nature and layout of the A38 and the flows along it also give rise to a number of safety problems. The A38 at Moorswater with the number of accesses has a poor accident record.

3.5 Accidents involving death and serious injury are tragic events in themselves. They also have to be dealt with by the emergency services, and that could mean closing the road for several hours, especially on this single carriageway section of the A38, where there is no spare road space available for temporary traffic management. With limited diversion routes available, the inevitable consequence is long delays and stress for those caught up in accidents. The same consequences can arise from other incidents, such as vehicle breakdowns, or from maintenance works which have to be undertaken from time-to-time to ensure the safe operation of the road network. All this, combined with the regular congestion that occurs anyway from the high volumes of traffic using the A38, serves to create a bottleneck along this section of this key route and makes journey planning unreliable.

3.6 In addressing these problems, the A38 Dobwalls Bypass needs to be designed, in terms of its carriageway standard and geometric layout, to be capable of operating safely and efficiently in distributing the high volumes of traffic on the road. This includes a need to provide junctions and structures that cater for both the strategic longer-distance traffic movements along the A38 and the more local movements via the interacting road network. If the carriageway and geometric layout were not to be improved, the congestion, delays and accidents that occur on the existing road would simply continue to grow in the future.

3.7 The design of the Published Scheme has sought to address all the foregoing problems and to present the optimum solution for them.

4 DESCRIPTION OF PUBLISHED SCHEME PROPOSALS

4.1 The Published Scheme (see Figure OST1 attached) would be a new dual 2-lane carriageway bypass that would commence west of Dobwalls at a four-arm roundabout adjacent to Twelvewoods Farm. As well as the bypass, this roundabout provides links to the centre of Dobwalls, the continuation of the A38 towards Doublebois and a new A390 link to St Austell.

4.2 From the roundabout a new 400m section of single carriageway with a combined pedestrian / cycleway on its the southern side would link with the existing A38 toward Doublebois. Access to the properties of Little Twelvewoods, Twelvewoods Farm and Great Twelvewoods would be maintained but access to Tammeys Lane would be closed.

4.3 From the roundabout access to Dobwalls would be via a short length of single carriageway that would tie in with the existing A38. A 30mph speed limit would apply to this new length and extend through Dobwalls.

4.4 The southern arm of the roundabout would connect with the A390 to St Austell via a new 1km link. This link would be on embankment crossing over the London to Penzance railway to the east of the existing bridge. North of the railway the eastern slope of the embankment would be graded into the landscape such that its lower section would be returned to agriculture. A dedicated right turn lane would provide access to Treburgie Water.

4.5 Heading eastward from the roundabout the 3km bypass would pass to the north of Dobwalls initially in cutting. It would cross Coldwind Lane and Havett Road, with Coldwind Lane being closed either side of the bypass and a bridge over the bypass being provided at Havett Road. From Petersfields the bypass would be on embankment on a downhill gradient to join with the alignment of the existing A38 road corridor near Lantoom Quarry. From Lantoom Quarry the dual carriageway would follow the existing road corridor to join with the eastern end of the Liskeard Bypass at Moorswater Industrial Estate.

4.6 A new split-level junction with the eastbound carriageway would be provided at Looe Mills. This junction would connect with the Moorswater Collector / Distributor Road via a new bridge over the dual carriageway. A junction with the westbound carriageway of the bypass and the existing A38 would be provided at Petersfields.

4.7 A new single carriageway road, the Moorswater Collector / Distributor Road, would provide access to the Moorswater Industrial Estate. This would run on the southern side of and parallel to the dual carriageway from Moorswater through to Lantoom Quarry. A 30mph speed limit would be applied on the Collector / Distributor Road from the Looe Mills Junction to the Industrial Estate.

4.8 Public footpaths 607/12 and 607/13 to the north of Dobwalls would be diverted along the Havett Farm access track and Havett Road. New public footpaths would be provided between Havett Road and Coldwind Lane on both the north and south sides of the bypass.

4.9 The cost of constructing the Scheme is estimated to be £33.5m (at 2004 prices), excluding value added tax (VAT) and inflation. Currently, the earliest possible date for a start of construction is Spring 2007. Achieving this date is dependent on the outcome of the public inquiry, subject to the satisfactory completion of statutory and administrative procedures, and the availability of funds. Once started, the construction would take some eighteen months to complete.

5 EFFECTS OF PUBLISHED SCHEME

5.1 Dobwalls would enjoy major benefits from the removal of all the through traffic from the village. All the adverse effects from within the community (see Paragraph 3.3) would largely disappear and the village would become a much more pleasant place in which to live.

5.2 The other major benefits of the Scheme would be for the road user. The new dual carriageway would be a much safer road to use and today's levels of congestion would be greatly reduced. Traffic would be able to flow freely and safely along the new dual carriageway, leading to reduced and more reliable journey times.

5.3 There are disbenefits associated with the Scheme. The most significant of these are: the demolition of three residential properties and a number of other buildings; intrusion into the open countryside and the loss of about 35 hectares of agricultural land; and increased noise levels for some properties on the north fringe of Dobwalls. However, these and other disbenefits associated with the Scheme would be heavily outweighed by the totality of the positive benefits described above.

6 CONCLUSIONS

6.1 The A38 Dobwalls Bypass would greatly improve the environment for the community of Dobwalls as a whole. The Scheme would address the problems of safety and congestion by providing a safer and more reliable journey for road users.

6.2 While the Scheme would have some disadvantages, these would be heavily outweighed by the benefits for the residents of Dobwalls and for users of the A38.