Final amendments to the design of the proposed Kingskerwell by-pass will be considered by members of Devon County Council's Executive today.

Local people's views have helped to shape the final design which includes changes at the major junctions at Aller and Kerswell Gardens /Hamelin Way and the access to the Aller Park estate.

Design engineers, working with the emergency services, have recommended that access to the Aller Park estate should be changed after residents voiced their concerns during a public consultation.

The original plan was to close the A380/Aller Brake Road junction and create a new one with St Marychurch Road. However, this would have made journeys to Torquay significantly longer and the layout has been changed to allow access to and from the Torquay direction.

The Aller junction layout has been changed from a normal roundabout to an overbridge with sliproads. This will deal with any increase in the numbers of cars using the junction, which would be too much for the roundabout.

Minor adjustments have also been made to the Kerswell Gardens/ Hamelin Way junction after residents raised concerns about the capacity of the traffic signal controlled junction.

Suggestions that the Penn Inn flyover should be two lanes instead of one have been rejected. A single lane in each direction will avoid additional cost and the demolition of the Penn House block of flats and three other properties.

The report to the Executive also includes details of the on-going environmental assessments. This includes studies relating to lesser horseshoe bats and cirl buntings as both of these protected species live on or near the proposed by-pass route.

Work is being carried out in collaboration with English Nature to limit the impact of the scheme and to improve nearby areas for the bats to use. This will include planting trees and bushes to provide flight paths for bats away from the road and modifying the size and position of large drainage pipes under the road to encourage bats to fly through them.

The report concludes by repeating the benefits of the Kingskerswell by-pass, which will reduce congestion, improve air quality and road safety and have social and economic benefits.

Members are also to be told that the cost of the by-pass has risen due, in part, to the scheme changes proposed above, but also because of national and regional increases in construction costs and land costs. The new estimated figure is £69 million. Schemes of this size are generally handled with a Private Finance Initiative (PFI), with Government supplying much of the funding.

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