A38 safety upgrades criticised as 'half-baked'

Plans for safety upgrades to improve conditions at a dangerous junction have been criticised as a "half-baked solution" by campaigners.

National Highways announced plans to remove a series of right hand turns on the A38 in Cornwall between Liskeard and Trerulefoot after a number of fatalities.

The campaign group Safe38 welcomed safety improvements but warned it could force local traffic to use unsuitable lanes and lead to inappropriate U-turns.

National Highways said the scheme would "make a difference and improve safety" while alternative proposals were "very expensive".

National Highways' collision data for the stretch of dual carriageway from Liskeard to Trerulefoot showed 39 injury collisions and four deaths over the past 20 years.

Under the proposals, right hand turns that cross the gaps in the central reservation at Lean Quarry, Menheniot, Tencreek Cottage and Castle Air junctions would go.

Safe38 said the safety improvements were needed but villagers and businesses along the route would suffer without the provision of appropriate access roads.

A graded separated junction and bridge with local access roads at Menheniot was among the solutions proposed by the group.

Chairman James Millidge said: "We need a route to a long-term solution for these junctions a half-baked solution is never going to work in this location - we need a solution that is fit for purpose.

"There are elements that are positive and we welcome those elements but there are also elements that are very poorly thought out."

Jack Mason, South West road safety manager for National Highways, said "quite a lot of the high severity injury collisions" were related to the right turns.

"That is a movement where you would exit the local road junction, and then you would cross the dual carriageway and turn right to go in the opposite direction whichever way you were travelling," he said.

"Looking at things like roundabouts or grade separated junctions are all well and good but they're very, very expensive."

He said the proposals would "make a difference and improve safety whilst also aspiring to do those things in the future should funding become available".

"The work we are doing is still in an early stage so there would be a number of years of design work that would need to take place," he said.

A public session on the proposals is being held at Liskeard Public Hall between 13:30 and 18:30 BST.

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