Motorists on Cornwall’s A30 face months of delays and diversions as a £9.8 million safety scheme is underway. The project covers a stretch between Kennards House and Five Lanes, targeting six junctions including the high-risk Plusha junction.
Between 2015 and 2024, Plusha junction recorded 22 crashes, three deaths, nine serious injuries, and 54 casualties, making it Cornwall’s worst accident blackspot prior to this intervention, according to a coroner’s inquest.
One continuous work area, six junctions
National Highways opted to establish a large work area covering the full stretch rather than phasing the works junction by junction. This approach allows contractors to conduct multiple operations at once, reducing the overall construction timeframe.
Ian Ellis, National Highways’ Programme Delivery Manager, explained that this method avoids repeated road closures later in the project and shortens disruption. Work runs six days a week and is scheduled outside the busier summer period.
Villages feeling the impact
Local councillors express concern over the delivery method. Adam Paynter, independent councillor for Launceston North and North Petherwin, warned National Highways about the impact of a single-lane closure running both ways along the A30, alongside a lengthy official diversion.
Paynter suggests closing only sections actively worked on rather than the entire length at once. He says the current approach pushes traffic into villages like Tregadillett that lack capacity for the volume, causing congestion.
Local resident Desmond Emmett reports noticeable traffic increases in Tregadillett, causing periodic gridlock as drivers use the village to avoid delays on the A30.
Adrian Parsons, Liberal Democrat councillor for Altarnun and Stoke Climsland, described a lack of meaningful dialogue between National Highways and local communities. He brands the six-month disruption and its effects on residents and businesses as "simply unacceptable."
Safety versus local disruption
National Highways stresses the scheme is based on solid collision data and the delivery strategy aims to reduce total disruption. However, the approach moves traffic disruption into villages for an extended period rather than rotating closures to limit local impact.
Paynter said weekly meetings with National Highways will attempt to balance these issues as the project continues.
For drivers, the single-lane restriction will remain throughout the six months, with delays especially expected on Fridays and weekends. For local villages, the main challenge is coping with increased rat-running traffic during the works.
This scheme highlights a common challenge: addressing dangerous road junctions while managing the impact of temporary traffic management on surrounding communities.
