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Multi-million pound upgrade to Westcountry roads

The Government has announced £180 million of improvements to the A30 in Cornwall. Its part of a £15 billion series of roads improvements across the country.

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David Cameron says road improvements can "start tomorrow"

The Prime Minister David Cameron visited Stonehenge this afternoon to talk about the Government's plans to spend £15bn on upgrading the country's road network. It includes making the A303 and A30 dual carriageways. He spoke to our Political Correspondent Bob Constantine.

Prime Minister says Britain can't afford not to upgrade road network

David Cameron being questioned at Stonehenge this afternoon Credit: ITV News West Country

The Prime Minister has insisted that Britain can afford the £15bn road improvements announced by the Coalition today which include plans to dual the A303 and take the road through a tunnel under Stonehenge.

Mr Cameron visited Stonehenge this afternoon where he said that Britain "can't afford not to do this"

The south west is an absolutely vital part of our country and this is going to delivering expressway effectively - dual carriageway all the way between the M3 and the M5. Its going to make a huge difference.Its going to make sure that economic growth we have will spread to every part of our country

– David Cameron, Prime Minister

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Yeovil MP welcomes road improvement plans

Yeovil MP David Laws has welcomed the road improvements Credit: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire

Yeovil MP David Laws has welcomed the Government's plans to dual the A303 and A358, all the way from the M3 to the M5 at Taunton.

The plan does not involve dualling the A303 over the sensitive Blackdown Hills Area of Outstanding National Beauty, but instead there will be smaller scale improvements to this stretch of road. The whole plan is expected to take over a decade to deliver. The most expensive parts are a 2.9km tunnel (costing £1.2bn) around Stonehenge, and the £300m dualling of the A358, from Ilminster to the M5 at Taunton.

‘I am absolutely delighted that the Coalition Government is going ahead with this significant plan to upgrade the A303 and the A358 – neither of which are currently fit for purpose. Current levels of road congestion and delays are unacceptable, and it is totally inappropriate that a busy A303 runs right past Stonehenge – a monument of world heritage importance.

‘I have been campaigning for this plan for many years, and it has taken a Coalition Government with a strong Liberal Democrat membership to finally secure some action.

‘The plan is exactly what I have wanted – with the A303 dualled from Ilminster eastwards, and the A358 dualled up to the M5 at Taunton.

‘This is good news for travel across the region and within Somerset – making it easier for my constituents to access Taunton, the M5 and the M3.

– David Laws MP

Cornwall Council welcomes roads announcement

Cornwall Council has welcomed today’s announcement by the Government of further improvements to the A30 in Cornwall over the next five years. This will see work to dual the notorious bottleneck between Temple and Higher Carblake starting on site as early as March next year. The Government have also announced that work will begin immediately on developing proposals to improve the A30 between Carland Cross and Chiverton Cross with the aim of this being built and open to traffic by 2020.

“Having previously made the case for the dualling of the A30 between Temple and Higher Carblake, I am delighted that we have now been successful in gaining Government support for the dualling of this further section of single carriageway road between Carland Cross and Chiverton “ he said.

– John Pollard, Leader, Cornwall Council

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Multi million pound upgrade to Cornwall's roads

A30 over Bodmin Moor will be upgraded to dual carriageway Credit: ITV News West Country

The Government has announced £180 million of improvements to the A30 in Cornwall. Its part of a £15 billion series of roads improvements across the country.

The A30 schemes involve dualling the section over Bodmin Moor at Temple and the section between Carland Cross and Chiverton Cross. The Redruth bypass will be linked along with an upgrade between Camborne and the M5.

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