Pleas for multi million pound road scheme to go further

Council has no plans to increase budget

Calls were made at a public meeting in Eggbuckland on Thursday evening to include more traffic sequencing improvements on Tavistock Road and Outland Road as part of a £156-million roundabout upgrade.

Plymouth City Council’s transport champion has confirmed that a series of junctions onto Outland Road are not part of the Manadon Interchange project which is being funded by the government to the tune of £133 million but said tweaks maybe made following feedback from a public consultation.

Concerns over blockages on Outland Road and Ham Drive and parts of Tavistock Road up to Derriford were flagged up as issues at the public meeting at William Sutton Village Hall attended by around 80 residents living closest to the project which is scheduled to start in 2028.

Residents were given an outline of the plans by council cabinet member for strategic planning and transport John Stephens (Lab, Plymstock Dunstone) which was followed by a question and answer session.

The project, which aims to relieve congestion at the city’s busiest interchange, was described by the council as having “broad support from the public” in a recent consultation.

But concerns by residents over the scheme not going far enough were backed by Conservative councillor Chris Wood (Eggbuckland), one of the three local councillors who organised the public meeting.

He said he believed more changes could be made quite easily with better traffic sequencing at junctions along Tavistock and Outland Road.

“Tavistock Road going up to Derriford Hospital and Outland Road towards Home Park is not part of the scheme but it could be,” said the councillor. “I believe there is scope and it would not cost too much more.”

“If we could include traffic sequencing on both of those roads it would be more effective. This is a key North to South route. At the moment we are tinkering with the roundabout and not addressing all the problems that exist as you go up and down. We could make more changes before the final business case is submitted.”

Councillors said this was one of the main issues that arose at the meeting along with mature trees being chopped down for road widening and concerns that the scheme would not run to time and budget. 

Cllr John Stephens said some of Tavistock Road was included in the plans including the junction with Budshead Road but some of the requests were outside the scope of this scheme.

However, the city council says it is aware of the issues raised and will review the design to “see if if improvements can be made within the scope leading to the Outland Road / Ham Drive / Morrisons junctions”.

The Keep Manadon Moving consultation engaged over 12,000 residents and the council said there was broad support for the majority of traffic and road layout changes, the strongest of which was for traffic flow improvements such as widening the A386 northbound lane and A38 off slips.

Improvements to the proposed pedestrian and cycling upgrades include a new cycle bridge.

Work is due to start on using the feedback to create a more detailed design which will be consulted on again in summer 2026. This next version will include more detail than before, particularly around the scale of impact on existing features around the roundabout.

The remaining £23 millionfor the project will come from other transport grant funding, developer contributions and the council’s own investment.

Eggbuckland Labour councillor Tess Blight, who helped organise and attend the meeting, said she understood people’s concerns about traffic lights at Morrison’s at Outland Road and at the junction of Tavistock Road going towards Budshead Road blocking up the roundabout.

But she said she didn’t agree with residents that this was the issue and not the roundabout itself.

She also flagged up safety issues on St Peter’s Road which comes directly off the roundabout and the impact of construction traffic and traffic queues on the Manadon Vale Primary School and children’s safety. She is calling for better signage and a 20mph speed limit and barriers to protect children.

Community benefits of the interchange plan include revitalising green space at Treveneague Gardens.