Anger as cycle path work shuts road for 14 months

A group of residents are facing long diversions and more than a year of disruption for the construction of a new cycle path.

People living on or near Colesdown Hill, in Plymstock, Devon, said they were given three weeks' notice the main road to their properties would be closed for 14 months.

"I thought it was a mistake," said Bob Hembry, recalling the moment he read a hand delivered letter about the closure from Plymouth City Council.

The authority said "there was no alternative" to closing the road, adding the works were "the most complex stage" of a 3km (1.86 miles) cycle and walking route linking Laira Bridge to the new town of Sherford.

Some residents said the diversion took them into traffic from Sherford which can become congested at peak times.

Hembry said he mistakenly thought the works would last between one and four months.

"I thought that's a long time," he said.

"Then I read it again and it was 14 months and I thought that can't be true. I was really angry about it then."

Valerie Wells said her husband was recently diagnosed with cancer which meant they needed to visit the doctor and pharmacy.

"It means now my two-mile round trip has escalated into a five-mile round trip," she said.

Brian Furse said he feared the diversion might put off the carer who looks after his wife.

"They're going to try it but they might have to give their notice in, and I don't know what I'll do without them," he said.

"She only gets paid for the time she's in my house."

The council said work began last month and a section of the road, which runs off Billacombe Road, would remain closed to vehicles until April 2027.

Drivers must now take a diversionary route via Haye Road to reach homes on Colesdown Hill.

The local authority said it was extending the existing off road path by opening up a blocked off bridge under Colesdown Hill and adding a crossing over Elburton Road.

John Stephens, the council's cabinet member for strategic planning and transport, said he "fully empathised" with the residents' situation.

He said the council was "working hard to minimise the duration of the road closure".

"We want to know when these situations arise so that we can work with the agencies involved to help bring about as normal a service that the residents would expect," he said.

The councillor said the project was not being paid for from its budget and the money would come from government active travel funding and housing developments.

"Plymouth city has seen a 27% increase in cycling journeys in the last seven years" he said.

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