We are aware that for the past few months, the traffic in the north of the city has been an issue for motorists, particularly in the morning.
We know there’s an awful lot of frustration out there and we’re sorry that people are facing delays.
The first question to answer is why we think we’re seeing this increase in traffic.
Firstly, there’s more traffic on the roads than there has been for a while. COVID-19 restrictions have now been lifted which means more people are going back to the office and for a variety of reasons, are electing to travel by car rather than bus.
There are also a lot of utilities works going on with City Fibre upgrading broadband along Miller Way and Western Power working along Plymbridge Road.
But certainly a major factor is our scheme at Morlaix Drive, a 300m stretch of single carriageway that links Brest Road with Derriford Hospital that we’re upgrading to allow for a two-way flow of traffic.
Morlaix Drive, which is home to an ambulance station, is currently closed for traffic going into the hospital and Brest Road is closed northbound, too. While these closures are in place, traffic that would ordinarily turn off Tavistock Road at William Prance Road, go down Brest Road and turn into Morlaix Drive, is now heading straight on and putting pressure on Derriford Roundabout.
With all these works going on together, we believe that drivers are changing their normal routes to avoid these and other works in the city and congestion on Tavistock Road is the result.
We’ve been in consultation with the hospital the whole time and have reviewed a number of options to try and alleviate the issue.
We’ve adjusted the lights where Plymbridge Lane meets Derriford Road so that more vehicles can pass through that junction an hour. That has helped a bit.
We’ve looked at re-opening Brest Road with temporary traffic lights but that can't be done as it would lead to further tail backs and would affect ambulances leaving the ambulance station.
We've also looked at closing Morlaix Drive outbound instead of inbound. That was also quickly discounted as ambulances need to exit Morlaix Drive quick-sharp when responding to a call.
The lights at Derriford Roundabout already react to the amount of traffic on the road, so there’s nothing we can do to them.
People have asked why these works all need to be done at once. It's a simple question but not a simple answer. There are a number of reasons why work crosses over.
If we didn't cross work over, we'd never get anything done at all. Road schemes can take anywhere between three months and three years to complete and sometimes, improvements or repairs cannot wait that long.
The other issue is funding. Money for large road schemes usually comes via a government bidding process.
When we successfully get funding, we only have a set amount of time to spend that money and so often, it's a case of getting a scheme done within the set time limits, or not doing it at all.
Delays caused by COVID-19 and the associated supply-chain issues have meant that a number of schemes were postponed. Morlaix Drive should have been done by now, but because of these delays, we've had to continue while other nearby schemes are going on.
Lastly, we cannot legislate for emergency repairs, liked the City Fibre and Western Power works, that are needed on the network around a scheme. This might be us - pothole repairs, for example, but is more likely to be any of the utilities – electric, gas, water, cables – who themselves have seen works postponed during the pandemic.
We know it's frustrating; no one wants to be stuck in traffic but we need to update our roads to keep pace with growth, jobs, housing and a better economy.
Road works like this have to be done and while we'll do our best to mitigate for disruption as much as we possibly can, we have to be honest, we do not have a magic wand. Delays are unfortunately inevitable.
Thanks for bearing with us.