The second phase of improvements on the city’s Eastern Corridor will begin on Monday 3 September.

The work, being carried out by Plymouth Transport and Highways, will include changes to the junction of Finnigan Road and Laira Bridge Road to improve traffic flow over Laira Bridge and provide better crossing facilities for pedestrians and cyclists.

This junction regularly suffers from queuing traffic, particularly at peak times, and the crossing facilities are poor, with no pedestrian signals and narrow refuge islands.

To help reduce congestion and improve journey times for people travelling over Laira Bridge, the right hand turn from Laira Bridge Road into Finnigan Road is going to be removed. This will significantly reduce the amount of time that traffic has to be held at this junction.

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It will also allow for new signal-controlled crossings to be installed across Finnigan Road and Laira Bridge Road, meaning pedestrians and cyclists can cross safely. Both crossings will link directly to the National Cycle Network route on Finnigan Road.

Access to the Faraday Mill industrial estate and other commercial areas in Cattedown will be maintained, via the new Embankment Lane, Cattewater Road and Faraday Road (in addition to existing access from Gdynia Way and Shapters Road).

To help minimise overall disruption on the road network, essential programmed maintenance work on Laira Bridge will be carried out at the same time. This work, which will improve and prolong the life of the structure, includes re-waterproofing the bridge decking, replacing expansion joints, resurfacing the road and installing new lighting columns.

Councillor Mark Coker, Cabinet Member for Transport said: "It's important that we improve traffic flow over and around Laira Bridge and reduce delays experienced by drivers. This is a vital artery into the city and we’re committed to making improvements that help motorists get around. The work on the bridge has to be done now or its condition will deteriorate further, which will require even more repair work at greater expense. It makes sense to co-ordinate the junction improvements with the bridge maintenance so there is a single set of works and future disruption is kept to a minimum. We will be monitoring traffic flow during the works to ensure we are doing everything we can to minimise delays."

(CD/Gk)