New £12m road unlocks vital development land

KEY LINK FOR PLYMOUTH AND SOUTH DEVON FREEPORT SITE

- By WILLIAM TELFORD

WORK has started on a major new £12m road for Plymouth.

The spine road will form a key link to an important site within the Plymouth and South Devon (PASD) Freeport and connect to the Freeport’s largest tax-break site at Langage - unlocking almost eight hectares of employment land.

The Devon County Council scheme is a 360-metre single carriageway road which will extend the existing Kingsway Road/Holland Road close to Langage Power Station. It will also provide a footway on the western side of the road, with a bi-directional cycle path on the opposite side.

It will be constructed by Cormac and is due for completion by December this year. The county council is also working on the design for a second phase of the spine road, which will unlock a further 16 hectares of employment land. A planning application for this scheme is due at a later date.

Together the highway infrastructure represents an investment of £4m funded by the Government as part of the PASD Freeport seed capital programme, and £8.27m from Devon County Council. PASD Freeport is one of 12 Freeports in the UK and is a partnership between Plymouth City Council, South Hams District Council, Devon County Council, and the private sector.