A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross
Upgrading the A30 single carriageway between Chiverton Cross and Carland Cross roundabouts. As part of our Strategic Road Network, the A30 is a road of strategic importance, which is why an £8m contribution from the European Regional Development Fund has been committed, as well as being identified as part of the Government’s Roads Investment Strategy.
Funding for this scheme includes a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund of £8 million towards its development costs, with a further £12 million allocated for the construction phase.
Latest updates
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06 September 2024
Our work this autumn
Now that the school summer holidays are over, we'll continue our finishing work through the autumn.
Closures and traffic management
We'll need some closures and traffic control on local roads while we work.
B3277 link road from Chiverton junction to the services roundabout - 9 September to 23 September
We'll fully close the link road 24/7 from Monday 9 September 9am to Monday 23 September 6am.
Diversion
If you're heading from the A30 to St Agnes you'll be diverted:
- along the A30 to Scorrier junction
- then through Blackwater to re-join the B3277 at the Services roundabout
If you're travelling in the opposite direction, use the same diversion in reverse.
A3075 temporary traffic lights - Monday 9 September for up to six weeks
We’ll install temporary traffic lights on the A3075 near Chiverton junction
They will operate from 9.30am to 4pm each day.
The lights won't be in place during the Little Orchard cider and music festival.
Upcoming A30 overnight lane closures
We'll need further overnight lane closures on the new section of the A30 later this autumn.
These will be on the east and westbound carriageways in different locations. The closures won't limit the use of the new A30.
We’ll give you more further information on this page.
Please plan ahead and allow extra time for your journeys.
Memorial motorcycle run
The 37th annual Martin Jennings Memorial motorcycle run through Cornwall will take place on Sunday 15 September.
This is a large scale motorcycle event raising money for charity. Up to 2,000 riders are expected on a number of county roads.
The route includes a section of the new dual carriageway. Riders will join the A30 at Cornwall Services. Between 1pm and 3pm they’ll ride westbound before leaving the A30 at Camborne.
There are no traffic restrictions in place but this section of the A30 will be very busy. There are likely to be delays
Please plan ahead. Avoid this section of the A30 in the early afternoon, if you can. If possible, find an alternative route.
How can we find out more?
For more information, you can:
- email us at: a30chivertontocarlandcross@nationalhighways.co.uk
- call us on: 0300 123 5000
You can also follow us on X and Facebook for up-to-date scheme information and updates on roadworks across the region.
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24 June 2024
We’re open for traffic!
This morning the first cars made their way along the newly opened A30 dual carriageway between Chiverton and Carland Cross.
We’d like to thank the people of Cornwall for their patience over the last few years while our teams have carried out this work.
While everyone gets used to this major route, we’d like to remind motorists to drive safely and familiarise themselves with the layout of the new junctions:
Chiverton junction
Chybucca junction
Carland Cross junction
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23 February 2024
New A30 dual carriageway enters final stages
We’re now in the final stages of our A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross upgrade project and will soon be preparing for the opening of the new dual carriageway later this year, before the school summer holidays.
Since the scheme received its Development Consent Order in February 2020, we’ve faced some significant challenges but despite these, we’ve made good progress.
The original Delivery Plan target date to open the new dual carriageway to traffic was the end of March 2024. However, since the start of construction, the programme of work has had to adapt to the effects of both the pandemic and growing weather challenges.
Between January 2021 and August 2023 there were 14 Met Office classified storms and since last August alone there have been an unprecedented total of 10 storms affecting Cornwall. As a result of the impact of the recent bad weather, we’re now expecting the road to be open for traffic in June.
The recent Chiverton flyover and Chybucca junction openings were significant milestones for the project and we’ll now be progressing with work on the new Carland Cross junction and ‘green bridge’ structure at Marazanvose.
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19 December 2023
Chiverton flyover partially reopened
We are now in the final stage of the project – huge progress has been made in 2023 and we are now preparing for the opening of the new A30 in 2024.
Last week we partially opened the Chiverton flyover - a major milestone for the project. This has alleviated congestion as we now have one lane of east-west traffic in either direction bypassing the interchange without queuing. Local journeys north and south are also improved as drivers will no longer have to interact with the A30 mainline traffic.
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31 May 2023
Chiverton Cross interchange to be installed
We've reached a major milestone on the project and will be installing the new Chiverton Cross interchange in June.
Following the installation traffic will use a new layout at Chiverton. The new layout will keep access open to the A390, A3075 and B3277 while we continue our work this year.
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21 February 2023
Watch Tolgroggan bridge lift
We installed a new bridge over the A30 in double-quick time last weekend as part of our Chiverton to Carland Cross road dualling scheme in Cornwall.
The Tolgroggan access bridge has spanned the A30 near Zelah for 32 years and needed to be replaced to accommodate the new dual carriageway and the existing road between the Chiverton and Carland roundabouts.
Despite mist and mizzle, weather conditions and wind speeds remained suitable for the lifting operation and the new 137ft (42-metre) twin-beam overbridge was lifted into place by a 650-tonne crawler crane on Saturday afternoon.
Our Engineers then undertook tying-in work on the bridge, dismantling and transporting of the crane and extensive site and traffic management clearance. We managed to reopen the A30 to motorists at 2pm on Sunday – some 16 hours ahead of the anticipated opening on Monday morning.
The new bridge weighs 275 tonnes, the equivalent weight of 23 double decker buses or 887,097 standard Cornish pasties and will eventually span the existing A30 road and four lanes of the new carriageway.
You can see a timelapse footage of the weekend works in the video below.
Now in position, our work will concentrate on construction of the new road, with the existing bridge to be demolished later this year.
Neil Winter, National Highways Senior Project Manager for the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross upgrade, said: “We thank people for their patience and co-operation while we carried out the work. The operation went as planned and although the weather wasn’t the greatest, conditions were favourable and the preparation work paid dividends.
“It’s a key milestone for the project, and now that we have the new bridge in place we will be able to switch our attention to the other structures along the route.
“As part of the scheme, we’re building 13 new structures in all, both under and over the new A30, with one existing underbridge at Two Burrows, a short distance from Tolgroggan, being refurbished.”
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11 January 2023
Work continues on all structures
We’ve continued to work on all the structures, this included pouring concrete bridge decks at Chiverton, Chybucca, Tolgroggan and Carland. We’ve also installed bridge beams at Marazanvose allowing us to plan for the concrete deck pour and other work on this structure.
We’ve made good progress on our drainage work with the use of a specialist trenching machine in areas where there is hard rock.
We also completed our roadworks between Chybucca and Chiverton. This meant that we were able to realign the A30 through the Four Burrows and Chiverton junction area at the beginning of December.
Next steps
We’re getting ready to install a new bridge at Tolgroggan. This will replace the existing bridge which we will demolish later this year. We will need a weekend closure of the A30 to carry out this work safely, we’re just finalising our plans and will provide an update on the date for this shortly.
(Bridge beams being lifted into place last year for the new bridge at Tolgroggan)
Over the next few months we’re aiming to complete the:
- underbridges at Chiverton East and Carland Cross
- road surfacing in the Hill View area on the A30 westbound carriageway
- roadworks at Henver Lane.This will allow access to the northern part of the new Trevalso Lane underbridge to start over the next few months.
We will also be:
- changing the traffic management at Trevissome Park to allow access to the A390
- realigning the A30 at Zelah so that we can start work on the underbridge there.
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10 August 2022
Cornish home produce is core to greener A30 road upgrade
Cornwall’s very own china clay mining industry is playing a big part in the construction of our major A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross upgrade.
Sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint are key drivers behind construction of the 8.7-mile dualling scheme, and to that end contractors Costain Jacobs and supply chain Aggregate Industries are tapping into natural Cornish materials and a significant investment in local companies.
Larger infrastructure projects typically use millions of tonnes of aggregate – representing a large carbon footprint – but as with other modern-day road building schemes, the A30 project is utilising a by-product from the china clay mining industry.
The residue, known as stent, would normally have no use and be left in white spoil heaps, scarring the local landscape. Instead, the material from the Littlejohns Pit near St Austell is being processed into sustainable secondary sand and aggregate for construction use.
And just down the road, this is now being used as an engineering alternative across the A30 project, not only reducing the embodied carbon but also saving on the transport carbon cost.
Compared to the 5kg Carbon Dioxide equivalent (CO2e) per tonne carbon emission of virgin aggregate, the locally imported material is around 2kg CO2e per tonne, representing a reduction of around 3kg CO2e per tonne of aggregate used.
Added to that, Aggregate Industries has also invested over £4 million in the nearby Melbur Quarry at St Stephen to produce more carbon friendly warm mix asphalt for the new road surfacing.
Fully approved by National Highways, warm mix asphalt is a greener process that has less impact on the environment, with reduced hydrocarbon emissions and greenhouse gases. Due to its lower temperature, it is also safer for construction workers to use.
Warm mix asphalt is produced using temperatures up to 49 degrees Celsius lower than that used for traditional hot mix asphalt so less energy is needed in the heating process, meaning less fuel and a reduction in the plant's carbon footprint.
Roads Minister Baroness Vere said:
“The A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross upgrade will reduce congestion, improve journey times and provide much-needed connection for local businesses.
"By using natural Cornish materials, we are also ensuring the scheme has a much lower carbon impact and provides a further boost to the local community, which is exactly the kind of innovation we want to see as we strive towards a net zero road network.”
Nick Simmonds-Screech, National Highways Project Director for the A30 scheme, added:
“We’re already really proud of our environmental and ecological work – we’re forecasting a net biodiversity gain in the region of 20% – and this greener way of working also spreads to our construction methods and material supply.
"We all have a part to play in reducing our carbon footprint and adapting to climate change, and modern road building methods are certainly playing a part in this.
“The move towards warm mix asphalts allows us to not only achieve huge efficiency savings but also reduce carbon as we strive for net zero by 2040.
“Carbon reduction, along with ensuring our roads provide smooth, safe, and efficient journeys for motorists, are key and something we are constantly striving to improve for generations to come.”
As part of our Net Zero Plan, we're committed to reducing our maintenance and construction carbon emissions to net zero by 2040.
On the Cornwall upgrade, Costain Jacobs and its contractors are also tapping into local skills and supplies as construction on the £330 million scheme progresses.
Aside from the aggregate and asphalt production, this includes the:
- employment of site managers and engineers from the local area
- use of Devoran Metals for reinforcement on the project
- daily use of a local scaffold supplier
- use of smaller suppliers of timber products
- engagement with local colleges and the Camborne School of Mines.
John Lee, Costain Project Director, said:
“It’s been good to tap into local skills and materials, we’re making excellent progress with the construction works and on course for the new road to be open to traffic in winter 2023.
“We’re also committed to working with National Highways and its Net Zero Plan and the use of warm mix asphalts and china clay by-products is playing a big part in the A30 helping to reduce the carbon impact of construction.”
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02 December 2021
Exciting archaeology finds on the A30
Since August 2020, the A30 team have been conducting archaeology investigations to record, report and preserve the archaeological findings along the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross scheme.
The Archaeological Contractor, Cornwall Archaeological Unit (CAU), has discovered artefacts from the Mesolithic/Neolithic transition period (around 6,000 years ago), the Bronze age (around 4,500-3,000 years ago), the Medieval period (around 12-13th Century), and the World War Two period.
Throughout the summer of 2021, we have hosted volunteer events to assist with our archaeological investigations in targeted areas.
Targeted areas include Penny-Come-Quick and Ventonteague, where the finds include a clearly defined post ringfeature (pictured). We are still progressing with the excavation of the surrounding area to uncover the full archaeological background; however initial investigations show that this is likely to be the remains of a stone circle.
Aerial view of pit ring at Penny-Come-Quick. Source: Jamie Lewis, Costain
We are also conducting a flint scatter in an area known as Ventonteague. We have found over 6,500 flints in this area and are continuing investigations to locate the epicentre of the flint scatter activity. These flints suggest the use of Mesolithic hunting weapons, processing tools such as scrapers and axes, suggesting an that there was an extensive knapping area at Ventonteague.
The flint from these flint scatters is likely to have been transported from areas such as the neighbouring coastline in Devon or Somerset as flint does not naturally occur in this area of Cornwall. The knapping area at Ventonegue can therefore be indicative of a manufacturing area where a range of tools would have been produced for a variety of uses, such as for hunting game and butchering meat. Investigations have uncovered signs of a 6,000–8,000-year-old water culvert in this area, supporting the theory of repeated settlement and activity in the area.
A flint found at Ventonteague, which is a core for striking blades off. Source: Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
Other excavations have uncovered two roundhouses in the Tolgroggan area which are likely from the Late Neolithic/Early Bronze Age and would have been used as a domestic dwelling. One roundhouse also featured a post ring (a central area of pits and post/stakeholes), flint tools and a pot located centrally in the ring centre.
Archaeological team carefully excavating a prehistoric pot in Tolgroggan. Source: Cornwall Archaeological Unit.
The A30 team are continuing with these archaeological investigations with the support from Cornwall Archaeological Unit and the hard-working volunteers.
To keep in contact with the scheme, please contact A30ChivertonToCarlandCross@HighwaysEngland.co.uk or contact the Customer Contact Centre on 0300 123 5000.
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16 April 2020
Development Consent Order granted
We were granted a Development Consent Order (DCO) on 6 February 2020 which allows us to build the design as submitted to the planning inspectorate (PINS).
We awarded a contract for the work to Costain on the 31 March 2020. In March, we also began preliminary works for the scheme. This includes the diversion of utilities, survey work to inform the detailed design and some site set-up work as we move through the summer.
Project information
The Government’s Road Investment Strategy included a commitment to improve the A30 between Chiverton Cross and Carland Cross roundabouts to dual carriageway standard. Funding for this scheme includes a contribution from the European Regional Development Fund of £8 million towards its development costs, with a further £12 million allocated for the construction phase.
What has happened so far?
On 6 February 2020, the Secretary of State for Transport gave the go ahead for the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross scheme to be built by granting the Development Consent Order. We then awarded the contract to the Costain Jacobs partnership; and completed detailed construction planning as well as work involving environmental and archaeological surveys. We acquired the necessary permanent and temporary land parcels and set-up site.
In March 2020, construction works started. We worked round the issues created by Covid-19, breaking ground to build the road, construct the many underpasses and overbridges, attenuation ponds, Cornish hedge and other infrastructure.
We are constructing:
- 10 new underpasses and underbridges
- 3 new bridges over the new road
- Refurbishment of an existing structure
- Over 2.6 million cubic metres of earthworks
- 33 new culverts and wildlife crossings
- Nearly 29 miles of new highway drainage
- Over 12 miles of wildlife proof fencing
- New badger setts and bat roosts
- 8 miles of Cornish hedge
Improving the A30 between Chiverton and Carland Cross is incredibly important for Cornwall’s future. It's the only remaining stretch of single carriageway on the A30 between Camborne and the M5 at Exeter; journeys on this part of the road are regularly delayed, congestion often brings traffic to a standstill, and as a result the Cornish economy is being held back.
For local people, particularly during the summer season, the simple act of getting to a neighbouring village can lead to unacceptably long and unreliable journeys, while opportunistic rat runners pose increased risk of accidents in their villages.
You can view our fast facts document to find out more.
The key objectives of the scheme are to:
- Make the route between Chiverton and Carland Cross more reliable by reducing congestion, journey times and providing more space for the travelling public
- Unlock growth, contributing to regeneration and sustainable economic growth by supporting employment and residential development opportunities
- Connect communities and making journeys easier by separating the strategic road from local traffic on the old A30. We will provide new bridges to cross the new A30 and maintain a route for local traffic and non-motorised users
- Design the proposed scheme to modern, safe and efficient road standards, which are suitable for the new dual carriageway
- Protect the environment, minimising impacts and where possible delivering enhancements to the environment
- Minimise disruption during the construction of the new road
Visit our A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross feedback tool to have your say. The tool includes an interactive map, so you can pinpoint any comments you may have about our work, or just give us general feedback.
ECHO is a one-way feedback tool, so if you'd like a response to your feedback, you can email the project team at A30ChivertontoCarlandCross@nationalhighways.co.uk
Documents
Public engagement report
Public engagement report: appendix A
Public engagement report: appendix B
Public engagement report: appendix C
Public engagement report: appendix D
Public engagement report: appendix E
Public engagement report: appendix F
Public engagement report: appendix G
Public engagement report: appendix G
Public engagement report: appendix G
Public engagement report: appendix H
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix I
Public engagement report: appendix J
Public engagement report: appendix K
Public engagement report: appendix L
Public engagement report: appendix M
Public engagement report: drawings
Public engagement report: drawings
Public engagement report: drawings
Public engagement report: drawings
The DCO process was established by the Planning Act 2008 and is used for certain large and complex schemes (including highway improvements) that have been designated as a Nationally Significant Infrastructure Project (NSIP) by the Government.
The benefits of the DCO process include extensive pre-application consultation, detailed analysis, including a full Environmental Impact Assessment, and examination by an independent inspector before the final decision is made.
The Secretary of State for Transport granted development consent for the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross Development Consent Order (DCO) on 06 February 2020. Links to key DCO documentation can be found below:
- Examining Authority’s report and recommendations to the Secretary of State for Transport
- Secretary of State for Transport’s decision letter and statement of reasons
- DCO as made by the Secretary of State for Transport
The made DCO is Statutory Instrument 2020 No. 121 and is available to view at legislation.gov.uk.
Development Consent Order – Requirements Register
Requirements are conditions that have been included in the DCO, which control how the project must be implemented (constructed and maintained). Implementing the DCO in accordance with these conditions involves completing consultation and approval processes that have been defined in the DCO. These processes are referred to here and in the DCO as “discharging” the requirements.
This Requirements Register is a live document and will be updated as the process to discharge the requirements progresses.
The latest version will always be published below:
View the Requirements Register.
This register will be maintained for three years following completion of the project. The register sets out:
- each requirement
- whether the requirement needs approval by the Secretary of State (or other duty holder)
- whether any approval has been applied for or given
Related Road projects
Traffic information
Information about scheduled roadworks and events on our motorways and major roads.X
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