THE huge influx of holiday traffic heading into West Devon and Cornwall in the coming weeks has sparked the re-opening of two lanes of the A30 at Whiddon Down to ease weekend travel problems. Roadworks at the Merrymeet Roundabout have caused long tailbacks at peak times. Now the Highways Agency has agreed to open up two lanes of the carriageway in both directions every weekend until the end of the summer. Andrew Alcorn, project sponsor with the Highways Agency, said: ?It has always been our plan to reduce traffic restrictions at Merrymeet during the school summer holiday weekends. However, last weekend there were long delays and we have decided to start the summer weekend lane layout earlier than planned.? Cones will be removed from Thursday nights until Sunday nights until September 10. At all other times, traffic approaching the junction will be reduced to one lane. The 40mph speed limit approaching Merrymeet and the 30mph limit on the roundabout will remain in place at all times. Work on the £12-million Merrymeet junction project started last November. Once the scheme is complete, the roundabout at Merrymeet will be replaced with a continuous stretch of dual carriageway, with slip roads and a bridge to connect local roads.
