DEVON County Council has confirmed that work on the £8.5 million Crediton Link Road will begin on Monday, July 15.

South West Highways have been awarded the contract for the work, which is expected to last 18 months.

The new road will be 0.7km (two thirds of a mile) long and will join the A377 at the Tesco roundabout and go to the junction of Commonmarsh Lane and Marsh Lane on the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate.

After many years of deliberation, and campaigns for a full bypass, a link road was finally approved by Devon County Council at the end of May.

Crediton is a designated Air Quality Management Area and the Link Road forms a key part of Mid Devon District Council's Air Quality Action Plan.

The scheme aims to reduce congestion and improve air quality along Exeter Road and also Charlotte Street, East Street and Mill Street, as well as supporting economic growth by improving accessibility to the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate.

The plan includes a 760-metre single carriageway road in each direction.

The new link will mean HGVs can access the estate without having to use Exeter Road, which is narrow and suffers from road traffic emission pollution.

The link road will have a wide shared pedestrian cycleway/footway to provide an off-road facility for cycling.

Works at the Exhibition Way junction to improve HGV access to the Lords Meadow Industrial Estate have been added to the scheme following a detailed traffic study and the junction at the northern end of the link road remodelled to accommodate all movement at the junction and the difficult topography at this location.

Cllr Nick Way (Crediton Rural), recently said of the scheme: "I am pleased that we are almost there with this scheme but it is a shame that the administration at County Hall did not make this happen a few years ago.

"Once built the Link Road will help alleviate the pinch point at Exeter Road and some of the traffic turning from East Street to Charlotte Street will be avoided.

"It will also give relief to residents in the Eastern part of the town.

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