Start Bay update: Temporary bridge, inland roads, funding for A379 Slapton Line

Hi everyone! As some of you know, I was in the Start Bay area recently on my surgery tour, having lots of conversations with people about the A379 Slapton Line and the wider challenge of coastal erosion in the area.

One of the topics which came up a lot was the possibility of creating a temporary bridge and I wanted to give a quick explanation as to why that is not possible.

𝐂𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐲 𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐠𝐞

Approximately 200m of the road has been washed away and none of what remains is suitable to support a bridge. That might not look the way from the top, but if you look behind the rock armour, you’ll see multiple voids beneath the road, making the foundations entirely unsuitable.

In theory, you could have loads of smaller span bridges every few metres, but again you run into the issue of the foundations. To overcome that you’d need to conduct work which would drive the price of a temporary bridge into the multi millions.

I completely appreciate how frustrating the current situation is. Trust me, I’ve been pushing for a temporary bridge since this crisis began, but I hope you can see from the above why it is not feasible now.

𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐢𝐧𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐞𝐬

In the last few weeks, multiple Slapton Line Partnership working group meetings have taken place, delivering some good news on improvements to inland routes.

Devon County Council is liaising well with parish councils and working to push through these improvements as quickly as possible.

There are still some tricky checks and surveys that need to take place, but should they all go to plan, work could begin in November. The amount of new passing places is substantial and will go a long way to alleviating the challenges currently faced by those in the community and nearby.

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐀𝟑𝟕𝟗 𝐒𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐨𝐧 𝐋𝐢𝐧𝐞

Devon County Council are expecting to hear back on whether their Structures Fund bid was successful this autumn. That could be as soon as next month.

As you know, I have always pushed for a sustainable future for the A379 Slapton Line. I will continue pushing for that no matter what decision the Department for Transport makes.