A SWATHE of changes to traffic management measures have been announced in an effort to curb the chaos caused by ongoing works along the A30.

At the start of August, National Highways revealed extensive upgrades it planned to carry out along the A30. Set to remain until March 2027, these works are being undertaken with the aim of improving the safety of the road.

However, since their commencement, parts of the road have been hit by traffic chaos. After concerns were raised by locals, councillors and MPs, a meeting was organised between two local councillors and National Highways in an effort to curb the issues.

Following the meeting, Cornwall councillor Adrian Parsons has detailed some of the upcoming changes, hoping to ease pressures on the road and those around it.

He explained: “Whether it’s diversion signs or overhead gantry signs, plans are being worked up to better advise people further up the line heading into Cornwall,” he continued. “For those approaching from down west, there also needs to be much clearer information about diversions, travel times and, importantly, that it’s quicker to remain on the A30 than get stuck in traffic clogging up our rural roads!”

Among issues which have been explored are residential access to Polyphant and Lewannick, access to Plusha Services and Subway, as well as the installation of appropriate signage along back roads to protect protect residents during spikes in traffic movements.

“Whilst the new temporary access off the A30 isn’t great, I think we are going to have to deal with that for the time being,” he explained.

“On the local back lanes, Cllr Paynter and I will keep doing what we can to get the appropriate signage in place and protect residents as best we can during spikes in traffic movements.

“Tregadillett, Trevell, Five Lanes, Altarnun, Tredaule, Trevague, Trekeland Bridge, Daws House, South Petherwin, the B3257 and the B3254 were all covered in our discussions.

“The list of issues, and the number of areas affected, has been extensive. It’s a situation I’d rather not have been dumped into, but we are now having meaningful dialogue with National Highways representatives and will continue to do what we can to minimise the impact on our residents and businesses.”

Following the meeting, the councillor says the organisation leading the works has ‘listened to feedback’ regarding local concerns and ‘ are now putting actions in place to try and minimise the impact of what we are seeing on our local road networks’, though the councillor has explained that the full impact of changes may take time to be felt.

According to the councillor, National Highways is set to deploy signage telling drivers to ignore satnavs and remain on the road, signs explaining that Plusha Services are open, and signs telling motorists to use both lanes and merge in turn.

Alongside this, vehicle messaging sign will report congestion through the scheme at Exeter giving driver’s choices on the M5 at Exeter.

Cllr Parsons has added that a single lane access has been put in place for agricultural vehicles needing to access Plusha Services, and that the organisation is adjusting the programme to allow access at Two Bridges.

Following the news, Ian Ellis, national highways programme manager, said: “We fully recognise the importance of maintaining reliable journeys along the A30 corridor while ensuring minimal impacts in the locality, and we’re actively monitoring traffic conditions throughout the safety scheme.

“We’ve also listened to feedback from local communities and a number of traffic management measures, such as improved directional and advisory signage, have been implemented both on the A30 and local roads.

“In the meantime, and to keep disruption to a minimum, we’ll continue to assess traffic management arrangements and mitigation measures.”