New traffic signal junction to open at M5 Junction 29

New junction arrangements on the A30 near M5 Junction 29 have come into operation as Devon County Council’s improvement scheme nears completion.

The new traffic-signal junction, which is just to the east of the M5 overbridge, connects the new link road from the C832 (old A30) at Blackhorse to the A30. It provides motorists with direct access to the M5 southbound for the first time.

Traffic will now also be able to travel in both directions on the connecting link road, and the Blackhorse on-slip to the A30 westbound will be permanently closed.

Those travelling westbound towards Exeter from Clyst Honiton will continue through Blackhorse and onto the new link road. On reaching the new junction, traffic can either turn right onto the A30 westbound, left onto the A30 eastbound or proceed ahead onto the M5 southbound on-slip.

It will no longer be possible for road users coming from Sowton village, along Sowton Lane, to turn left onto the Blackhorse on-slip. Motorists will continue over the Blackhorse bridge to the T- junction near the Blackhorse Inn. To reach the A30 they will turn left through Blackhorse and along the link road to the new traffic-signal junction.

Westbound traffic on the A30, heading to Exeter or the M5, will approach new traffic signals and stop lines at the junction, approximately 200 yards in advance of the M5 overbridge.

Traffic heading out of Exeter towards Honiton will also encounter new traffic signals and stop lines on the A30, and eastbound motorists that want to travel southbound on the M5 will diverge left after the M5 overbridge, then turn right through the new junction and through the signal control across the A30.

Advance direction signing will be in place on all approaches to the new junction, with the addition of overhead signs on the A30.

Ahead of the full opening of the junction scheme in the coming weeks, permanent traffic signals and widened areas of carriageway at the M5 southbound off-slip junction and M5 northbound slip roads will also be brought into operation.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council Cabinet Member for Highways and Transportation, said: “The opening of this junction shows that the new layout is taking shape and that the improvement scheme is nearing completion. I would urge all road users to take special care to familiarise themselves with the new arrangements. Drivers are also reminded to observe the speed limits through the roadworks for their own safety, that of other road users and the contractor’s workforce.”

The M5 Junction 29 improvements will open up access to the Exeter and East Devon Growth Point and is one of the many projects being delivered as a result of the public and private sector Growth Point Partnership. The scheme forms part of the transport package for the Growth Point that will ensure that the transport system supports strategic development which will drive economic growth and prosperity in Devon.

The Exeter and East Devon Growth Point includes the Exeter Science Park and Skypark business development, which together are expected to create more than 10,000 jobs and generate around £450million in private sector investment. It also features an intermodal freight and distribution facility and the new community of Cranbrook.