Thousands sign petition over Exeter road closure

The Battle of Dryden Road goes on

Exeter councillors wrestling with the problem of a controversial road closure have been urged to listen to local people.

Campaigners trying to get Dryden Road opened again have urged them to ‘do something for the many, not the few’. But cyclists who want it to stay shut say the closure has made travel through the city safer and cleaner, and re-opening the road without providing a safe alternative would be a ‘critical safety risk’.

The road has been blocked to cars since Covid in 2020, when it was designed to provide a safe and traffic-free route into town.

But a protest campaign has been growing, with people saying the closure has merely moved the problems to surrounding streets such as Bovemoors Lane.

Around 4,000 people have signed a petition calling for the road to be re-opened, while 1,800 have signed one saying it should stay closed.

Members of the Exeter highways and traffic orders committee decided after a long debate to go out to a full public consultation in the New Year, asking people in the surrounding streets as well as in Dryden Road what they want to happen to the closure.

James Diamond of the Exeter Cycling Campaign called on the committee to ‘keep Dryden Road safe, usable and attractive for people walking, cycling and wheeling’.

And former city councillor Rachel Sutton said scrapping the closure would send thousands of cars through routes to and from local schools every day.

“It makes sense to provide a safe route for pedestrians and cyclists,” she said. “There are plenty of routes for cars.”

Several speakers called on the committee to let cars back into the road, however, including Alderman Olwen Foggin, who said: “Listen to the people. There is room for all.

“You’re supposed to promote a better life, not make people’s lives worse.”

City councillor Laura Wright (Lab, St Thomas) said she thought the consultation could be meaningful and productive.

“We’re acknowledging that this isn’t working terribly well for some people,” she said. “What can we do to make it work pretty well for everybody? 

“We’re acknowledging the fact that previous consultations had flaws in them, so we’re listening to people. It’s going to give these residents proper time to come forward with ideas.

“Everybody thinks, at the moment, that their position is right. By sitting together and listening to each other we start to get a better decision on what is right.”

Some councillors called for the Dryden Road closure to be scrapped outright, but the move to go out to a full consultation before a final decision was passed by six votes to four.