A TRAFFIC calming scheme near a Tiverton school, which includes 20mph zones in Blundell’s Road and Blundell’s Avenue, has today been backed by the county council’s ruling cabinet.

The estimated £1.1m scheme includes raised tables at the main junctions along Blundell’s Road and an additional raised table with a new puffin crossing along the front of Blundell’s School.

A new 20mph zone will also be introduced within the vicinity of the school extending south into Tidcombe Lane and carriageways along the front of the school, and at the sites of the other raised tables, will be narrowed.

The environmental enhancements and traffic calming measures in Blundell’s Road, between Heathcoat Way and Hartnoll Cross, will reduce the volume and speed of traffic, improve pedestrian safety, enhance cycle provision, while preserving the attractive local environment.

All the plans follow a public consultation last year - almost 300 people, many of them motorists who said they travelled in a car or van on Blundell’s Road everyday, commented on the planned improvements.

The feedback, for phase 1 of the work between Heathcoat Way and Tidcombe Lane, saw almost 55 per cent agreeing with proposals for a 20mph zone and raised tables on Blundell's Road.

Just over 59 per cent agreed with proposals for a 20mph zone on Blundell’s Avenue. A further 55 per cent supported environmental enhancements at Blundell’s School campus.

The improvements are needed on the local road infrastructure to accommodate 2,000 dwellings to the east of the town on Blundell’s Road and employment development planned in the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension (Tiverton EUE).

Parallel to the traffic calming scheme is the proposed new junction onto the A361 to access this development.

This will provide an alternative link to and from the development, while the traffic calming will deter vehicles from using Blundell’s, encouraging them to use the new junction.

The Tiverton EUE involves new homes, new retail development and new employment space over 153 hectares between the A361, Manley Lane, the Grand Western Canal and West Manley Lane.

Councillor Stuart Hughes, Devon County Council cabinet member for Highways Management, said: “There is planning permission for more than 1,000 homes and a new junction connecting to the A361.

“Some local traffic will inevitably use Blundell’s Road to access facilities in Tiverton.

“Added to that there are more than 3,000 daily pedestrian movements across the road to and from the school.

“These changes are necessary to reduce the speed of traffic and to make making it easier for school children and other pedestrians to cross the road.

“It will also discourage vehicles from using the route and minimise the impact on the environment through a conservation area.”

Councillor Des Hannon, local member for Tiverton East, said: "I am really pleased that this scheme will go ahead. The consultation was genuine, and the people who gave their opinions should recognise the results.

“People have got what they wanted locally.”

The proposals, which are being funded by the developers of the Tiverton Eastern Urban Extension, are being developed in consultation with Mid Devon District Council and Blundell’s School.

Phase one of the scheme, from Heathcoat Way to Tidcombe Lane, is expected to start during the summer 2016.