Businesses concerned about 18-week road closure

Businesses and residents are concerned about how the 18-week closure of a busy road will affect their town's trade.

The B3212, which goes from Exeter and Moretonhampstead, is fully closed for extensive repairs between Dunsford and Doccombe, until April.

It means drivers are faced with a 23-mile diversion through Bovey Tracey to get to Moretonhampstead, where residents say they are worried that the closure is not well signposted and fear passing trade will be put off visiting.

Devon County Council said a full closure was necessary. "We are sorry for the inconvenience but there simply isn't enough room for crew to work safely and to have a lane open at the same time."

It added: "Last week, scaffolding was anchored to the road surface and over the next couple of days the piling rig will arrive. This rig will span the full width of the road, and therefore a road closure is necessary."

An alternative to the Bovey Tracey diversion follows the A30 to Whiddon Down but Larry Kuiper, who runs the newsagents in Moretonhampstead, said diversion signs were "confusing".

He added: "If a tourist wanted to go from Exeter to Dartmoor, then the first time you get told [of the road closure] to turn around is at Dunsford."

Dunsford is eight miles (12.8km) outside Exeter, and Moretonhampstead a further six miles (9.6km) along the B3212.

Ione Rucquoi, who owns Hippo Bistro in the town, said she is expecting the closure to have an "impact" on her trade.

She said a lot of customers "come up for walks on the moor" and felt they would be less likely to do that during the closure.

The council said one lane of the road had been closed since 2022 following a landslip which left half of the road unsafe to use. The work aims to "stabilise the road, improve drainage and reinstate safety barriers".

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