WEST Devon motorists travelling to and from Plymouth on the A386 started using a new stretch of road on Sunday. It signalled the green light for the start of the next key stage of a £14.5-million improvement scheme. Moving traffic off the existing A386 onto a new stretch of dual carriageway from south of the George Hotel will be a significant milestone in the scheme designed to free up a notorious bottleneck on the edge of Plymouth. It will also enable the release of land by Plymouth City Council to the city airport for a runway extension as a vital investment in the air transport links to the South West region. But travellers on the A386 cannot expect to see an improvement in traffic flow with the switch on to the new stretch of Tavistock Road until the major junction works are finished in the summer. The scheme, designed by Plymouth City Council civil and transportation engineers, is being constructed by South West Highway Limited. Cabinet member for transport Cllr Sue Dann said: ?This new part of the A386 is a temporary arrangement until May 2005 and may not seem to drivers as an improvement to this bottleneck because this latest change to the road layout will not allow the traffic to move any quicker. ?The real benefits of this scheme will not be evident until the completion of the works in autumn 2005.?
