OVER the summer months we saw a significant amount of work on the A38.

The initial stages of a new roundabout at Stoketon Cross in Saltash, the installation of average speed cameras between Carkeel and Trerulefoot, the installation of two spot cameras within the villages of Tideford and Landrake coinciding with the lowering of the speed limit to 30mph, and the removal of a 2+1 road arrangement east of Tideford (a collision hot spot according to the data from National Highways).

It is worth reminding ourselves why these average speed cameras, in particular, have been deployed.

This section of road has had a historically and stubbornly high killed and seriously injured (KSI) rate between 2.5 and 3.5 times the national average for a road of its type.

The human cost of that shocking safety record must not be forgotten.

Safe38 started in 2018 following a 12-month period where seven people lost their lives on the A38 within Southeast Cornwall.

As well as costing lives, the economic impact of multiple, long unplanned closures caused by collisions has had a hugely damaging effect upon the lives and livelihoods of both local residents and visitors to our beautiful part of Cornwall.

In 2025 we have finally seen the delivery of a significant package of safety improvements that will at last enable the section of road between Carkeel and Trerulefoot to perform far better from a safety perspective. We understand that comes at a cost.

With all of the safety measures and changes referenced above, journey times will inevitably be longer for users at certain times of day, and certainly will be impacted by the long distances of temporary speed restrictions currently in place.

However, when work is complete the road will be far safer for us all resulting in less unplanned closures. There is a fine balancing act however between achieving a minimum journey time while improving safety with less disruptions.

Closures from collisions are far harder for people to plan for due to their unpredictable nature, whereas a marginally increased journey time can be planned for by leaving five or ten minutes earlier.

Longer journey times, however also have a negative impact on economic growth, and was the reason why the case for action feasibility study handed to the then Department of Transport by our then MP in 2018 focused on the economic case for making improvements to the road.

It’s always been our understanding that making the road between Carkeel and Trerulefoot perform better from a safety perspective would lead to the road being slower and less free flowing. This is far from desirable for a road that should be a high-performing part of the strategic road network and backbone of the Cornish economy.

That is why we have consistently campaigned for a long-term solution like the dual carriageway relief road that was planned and cancelled in the 1990s, designed to carry the huge volume and type of traffic that the current A38, built in the 1940s, struggles to cope with.