3.5 mile South Devon Highway costing £110M opens today

Road Minister Andrew Jones has today opened a 3.5 mile South Devon Highway expected to carry 35,000 vehicles a day.

A new highway costing £110M has today been opened between Torbay and Newton Abbot, delivering better journeys for road users in the south west.

The new highway is expected to create hundreds of jobs and benefit the tourism industry, giving a major boost to the local economy.

Completed on budget and on time, the project is expected to deliver a near £1Bn return on the £110M investment.

A total of 2,600 workers, half of which were from the local area, spent almost 1.5 million hours working on the project over the 42 month building period that finished last December.

Chancellor George Osborne said: “Better infrastructure is vital to improve people’s lives in the south west, and this new link road is doing exactly that by making local journeys quicker and easier.

“After a tireless local campaign we pledged new funding to make this important project a reality, and today’s announcement shows we have delivered on our promise.”

The road bypasses the village of Kingskerswell, moving congestion away from the area, which previously saw an estimated 1 million vehicles per month moving through it.

Along the route, there are nine bridges, 4000 metres of retaining walls and nine major culverts. A 270 metre long railway tunnel was built as part of the project.

The new South Devon Highway is expected to save local residents and businesses up to 15 minutes each day, removing the concerns of having to travel through congested local villages.

The cost was split between the Department of Transport who payed £76M, Torbay Council and Devon County Council, with Teignbridge District Council making a £500,000 contribution.

The new highway hopes to connect communities, improving the economic outlook for the whole of south Devon.

Peter Truscott, Chief Executive of Galliford Try, the company that built the road said: “Galliford Try is proud to have been a part of this prestigious project which will make such a difference to the people of south Devon.

“We thank all the stakeholders for their collaborative approach, without which it would not have been possible to deliver this challenging project successfully.”

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