GRAHAM Pearcey, on behalf of the Crediton Traffic Action Group, has criticised Devon County Council's Cabinet for approving the proposal to submit a planning application for a £7.75 million Link Road for Crediton.

Mr Pearcey, whose son runs a business on the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate, said the approval of the road "will encourage motorists to drive into a bottleneck".

He explained: "The likelihood is that motorists will become frustrated with delays on the Link Road and will use Exeter Road instead."

He said that senior council officers have made it plain that there will be no improvements made between the Hillside Link Road route and Jockey Hill, let alone Barnstaple Cross.

Also, that any possibility of diverting any Heavy Goods Vehicles from the High Street can therefore be ruled out.

He added: "Of no less consequence are the one in 10 gradients at both ends of the Hillside route."

LOW GEARS AND NOISE

Mr Pearcey explained: "As has been pointed out by transport operators currently using Lords Meadow as their base, ascending the hill will necessitate the use of the lowest gears, in order to pull the load, and descending the one in 10 gradient will also dictate the use of the lowest gears, since the use of the engine will be needed to supplement the brakes.

"Since no overtaking is to be allowed anywhere on the proposed route, light vehicles will be reduced to a crawl throughout its entire length!

"This will" he adds, "discourage light vehicles from using the route, as a result of which, the projected number of vehicles actually diverted from Exeter Road is likely to be considerably less than the figure for which DCC is hoping."

Figures drawn from DCC's traffic surveys, and presented to Cabinet members by officers prior to last weeks decision, showed no overall growth in Crediton's traffic over the last five years.

These figures were presented to the councillors before they were asked to progress the planning application for the £7.75 million Link Road scheme.

3,000 VEHICLES A DAY

As part of the ongoing development of the scheme and to address local concerns, new manual traffic counts, roadside interviews, Automatic Number Plate Recognition, Automatic Traffic Counts and environmental surveys were conducted.

The results revealed that there are 12,000 two-way trips a day on the A377 between Crediton and Exeter, around 8,000 a day at Barnstaple Cross and approximately 2,000 a day on the A3072 between Tiverton and Crediton.

The surveys showed that approximately 3,000 vehicles a day travel through Crediton along the A377 without stopping, which is around 20 per cent of the traffic on Exeter Road.

The initial results of traffic "modelling" indicated that the Hillside Route Link Road would improve air quality and traffic flow along Exeter Road, Charlotte Street and Mill Street. However, it was found there would be no significant impact on air quality in the High Street.

The "modelling" also showed that between now and 2026 traffic levels on Exeter Road will increase from 14,500 vehicles per day to 16,500 vehicles per day without additional highway improvements.

With the Hillside Route estimated to carry around 7,000 vehicles per day, the officers said that this will help reduce levels to 11,500 a day on Exeter Road by 2026.