Tavistock area commuters are warned of the next phase of changes to the congestion blackspot roadworks at Woolwell in Plymouth.

The £45m Woolwell-to-The George scheme will tackle one of Plymouth’s worst traffic bottlenecks and is a vital part of the city council’s programme to improve links to the north of Plymouth as it grows.

Work on the next phase of the Woolwell-to-The George scheme will get under way later this month.

This will include the replacement of Woolwell Roundabout with a signal junction, widening of Tavistock Road and improvements for pedestrians and cyclists.

Traffic islands between the George Junction and Woolwell Roundabout will be removed over five nights from Monday, January 26, before the main works start the following week.

One lane will operate in each direction between the George Junction and Woolwell Roundabout throughout the works.

During the first stage, there will be no right turn out of Woolwell Road onto Woolwell Roundabout (traffic heading north from Woolwell will use the new Woolwell Crescent junction).

Some more trees need to be removed this winter and others moved outside the bird nesting season later this year, enabling Tavistock Road to be widened.

A Plymouth City Council spokesman said: “We carried out site investigations to expose tree roots so that specialists could assess the trees and the potential impact of works taking place close to them.

“Therefore, we’ve been able to retain 36 trees previously identified for removal, including four protected by tree preservation orders.

“We will plant 19 large, well-established trees on site, along with sedum within the new central reservation and islands.”

Proposals also include hedge and wildflower planting and shrub planting in and around the two new drainage ponds being created on the east side of Tavistock Road.