Work to start on major Tavistock Road improvements

£45 million scheme moves to phase 2

A £16 million contract has been awarded for the next phase of the Woolwell to The George transport scheme in Plymouth which is expected to start in January.

Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering Ltd has secured the contract from Plymouth City Council after completing phase one in November.

The works, which will take approximately 18 months, involve road widening on the main A386 Tavistock Road to provide two lanes in each direction, replace the Woolwell Roundabout with a signalised junction, provision of new and improvement of existing pedestrian crossings, drainage works and carriageway reconstruction and surfacing.

This will be followed by phase three, the final stage of the work, which is the expansion of The George Park and Ride site to provide an additional 80-85 parking spaces

Completion is expected in 2027 with a summer opening planned.

The £45-million project, which has received £29.4 million from the government, aims to alleviate congestion at the notorious pinch-point between Woolwell Roundabout and The George, on the A386.

More than 30,000 vehicles use this section of road each day and there are often queues and delays at peak times, caused by traffic having to merge over very short distances. 

First phase work included the Woolwell Crescent junction  allowing traffic from Woolwell to turn right onto Tavistock Road and travel north for the first time, without needing to use Woolwell Roundabout.

An executive decision to award the contract for the second phase work was made by Paul Barnard, the council’s service director for strategic planning and infrastructure, on Thursday (December 18).

Council documents say that the funding has already been accounted for within the approved capital project budget.

“Significant efforts” had been made to ensure scheme’s affordability and value for money and contractor prices had been “robustly challenged”.

The council says “a substantial amount” of the land needed for the scheme which is outside its ownership has already been secured and “negotiations on outstanding land plots are continuing”.

Cabinet members approved the possibility of compulsory purchase orders in March 2024  but were clear that this would be ” a last resort” if negotiations failed.