The development work on the road began in 2021(Image: (Image: Getty Images))

New £250m 'super road' has just made trips to Devon and Cornwall quicker

by · DevonLive

Drivers heading to Devon and Cornwall are set to shave precious time off their travels with the nearing completion of a £250m upgrade on a major road. Hailed as a game-changer, the improvements on the A303 include expanding sections of the single carriageway into dual ones, with some proposals already rejected while others march forward.

The most controversial proposal yet has been the plan for a tunnel near Stonehenge which has seen its share of activism, including a Mass Trespass at the historical site on December 5, 2020. Organised by climate activists, the protest was aimed against the green light given by former Transport Secretary Grant Shapps for the ambitious £1.7 billion project.

The project featuring a two-mile tunnel underneath the World Heritage Site and eight miles of dual carriageway on the A303, now boasts fully open lanes between Sparkford and Ilchester, allowing traffic to hit national speed limits.

Protestors did not agree with the plans for the new development of the road(Image: (Image: Getty Images))

Sian Hopkins, Senior Project Manager, spoke to the BBC, confirming: "The traffic management has gone and now the whole section is running." Hopkins also mentioned remaining tasks, adding: "We still have some work to do on the local roads and that will continue in the coming weeks", reports the Express.

National Highways stated: "The aim of the project has been to dual a 3.5-mile section of single carriageway, helping to promote economic growth, improve journey times and increase safety by unlocking a major bottleneck in the county on the Strategic Road Network."

The road officially opened to traffic on November 4, reducing travel time in the region and providing a smoother journey to the south west for millions of people. The upgrade, which began in 2021, was carried out with minimal disruption over its three-year duration.

Key features of the project include the creation of five new attenuation ponds to aid drainage, the installation of the Steart Hill and Hazlegrove bridge decks - weighing a massive 1,673 tonnes, equivalent to 137 double-decker buses - and a focus on supporting local wildlife.