A303 Improvement Study Devon County Council

History Numerous plans to upgrade A303 since early 1990’s, none implemented due to: economic uncertainties costs involved significant environmental constraints Somerset set up consortium (local authorities and LEP) in early 2012 to make the case for improvements focussing on: Lack of resilience in transport routes that link the South West Road works and collisions have large negative impact Poor journey time reliability Belief that investment would stimulate economic growth

Making the Case Findings: Perception of poor quality route stifles growth of business Economic study predicts £42bn benefit (gross value added) if route was improved Proposals: Identified three sections that offer value for money and could be delivered relatively quickly: Chicklade Bottom to Mere: £150m Sparkford to Ilchester: £50m Ilminster to Honiton: £50m Results: Work received positively DfT committed HA to review the A303 route

What now? Highways Agency: Reviewing the full A30/A303 route from Exeter to Andover, and the A358 Options Assessment Report will be completed end of July This will guide specific schemes to focus on, results of which will be fed back prior to the Autumn Statement Devon County Council: Reviewing Honiton to Broadway section Study to feed into Highways Agency study Plan to develop a long term improvement strategy for the route which sets out incremental improvements over time Identify £50m scheme(s) that could be delivered quickly There are however no schemes between Honiton and Broadway

Considerations Dualling is undeliverable for a number reasons: The route travels through a protected landscape – schemes need to be sensitive to the environment Traffic levels relatively low so economic case for dualling can not be made Schemes will need to compete nationally to secure funding against competing schemes with high BCR (benefit to cost ratio) therefore costs need to be minimised HA study brief also sets out that dualling is not appropriate Dualling is undeliverable Blackdown Hills AONB Relatively Low Traffic Levels Economic Climate

Get involved More information on website: Consultation open until 22 nd April via online survey We will report back to Stakeholders in June and present findings and prioritisation Contact:

Study Area

Study Area West

Study Area East