NATIONAL Highways is reminding drivers to plan their journeys ahead of this weekend’s A30 road closure in Cornwall.
As part of National Highways’ A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross road upgrade, work will be taking place at the Chiverton interchange, ahead of a partial opening of the flyover, and realignment work at the Chybucca junction to carry the B3284 north-south link road over the A30.
It had been hoped to open the Chiverton flyover to traffic on Monday, but the current weather event has prevented the laying of road materials and delayed the programme of work.
As a result of the postponement of the Chiverton flyover partial opening, this weekend will see a lesser closure of the A30, between the temporary Chiverton interchange and Boxheater.
The closure, from 8pm tomorrow (Friday, 8 December) to 6am on Monday, 11 December, will see traffic diverted from Boxheater on the A30 via the B3285 and the A3075 to rejoin the A30 at the Chiverton interchange, with the eastbound diversion route operating in reverse.
Neil Winter, National Highways’ Senior Project Manager for the A30 scheme, said: “The weather event over the past 36 hours, and continuing rain, has conspired against us.
“The current rainfall has exacerbated ground conditions already saturated, and unfortunately we have taken the decision to delay the partial opening of the Chiverton flyover this weekend.
“The weekend closure will still take place, to enable the opening of the north-south link across the Chybucca junction but the heavy rainfall has hampered progress in laying the new road surface over the flyover and we need to ensure this is completed and safe for traffic before opening.
“These circumstances are out of our control, and although we anticipate a small delay, we are anticipating opening the flyover in the coming days, and ahead of people’s Christmas journeys, when traffic volumes are anticipated to be higher.
“We acknowledge the weekend closure will have an effect on people’s journeys, we advise people to plan ahead and allow extra time for their journeys and we thank people in advance for their patience as we progress this massive road upgrade for Cornwall.”
“Once completed, we anticipate the Chiverton flyover and the B3284 link openings to improve traffic flows on and around the A30 and, in the meantime, we encourage drivers to keep to the main routes and avoid driving through villages such as Chacewater and Silverwell, as these have narrow roads and can experience localised congestion.”
From Monday drivers travelling north to south across the A30 at Chybucca will no longer have to negotiate traffic signals, instead using the new layout as per the below diagram:
The A30 could be reopened earlier than the 6am deadline on Monday, and in the meantime, drivers can obtain up-to-the-minute travel information via roadside messaging, local radio, the @HighwaysSWEST Twitter feed, by phoning the National Highways Information Line on 0300 123 5000 or by accessing the website: www.trafficengland.com
The new carriageway is scheduled to be opened at the end of winter 2023/2024 and in the meantime more information and further scheme updates are available at National Highways’ A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross web page .
The cost of developing the scheme is being partly funded by an £8 million contribution from the European Regional Development Fund, with an additional £12 million for the construction phase. The remainder of the cost of developing and delivering the scheme is being funded by central Government.
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